The Baby Olivia Act took center stage during Tuesday’s House Education Committee meeting, with members listening to nearly 45 minutes of public comments about a bill that would require Arkansas public school students to watch an animated video about human embryonic and fetal development created by Live Action, an anti-abortion group known for spying on women at Planned Parenthood clinics.
Sponsored by Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville), House Bill 1180, aka the Baby Olivia Act, would require the three-minute video to be shown to students starting in fifth grade as part of “human growth and development” curriculum. The video has been criticized by prominent medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as scientifically inexact.
Planned Parenthood said the video is a “propaganda film.”
But conservative lawmakers in Arkansas – and in some other states that have introduced “Baby Olivia” legislation – say the Disney-like video is a lovely tribute to human life. Live Action says the AI-generated clip is, in fact, scientifically sound.
“I watched this video just in amazement to see how beautiful it is,” Bentley, the lead sponsor, said during the House Education Committee meeting. “It is just such a perfect way for kids to learn. You can see how each stage develops and how beautifully the embryo develops into a fetus and how the fetus becomes an infant.”
The Live Action website says the video “provides a medically accurate, animated glimpse of human life from the moment of fertilization” and was “reviewed and certified” by doctors from the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs. Arkansas Surgeon General Kay Chandler is a member of this group.
Opponents say the clip does not accurately reflect the stages of development of a fertilized egg in a woman’s uterus – a topic that was discussed at length during Tuesday’s meeting.
Bentley said the film is age-appropriate for fifth graders because “girls are supposed to start their periods during that time so it’s an appropriate time for us to start.”
“I have shown this video to my 4- and 5-year-old grandkids who absolutely love it,” she said.
For AR People, a nonprofit pro-democracy group that was part of the coalition aiming to put abortion access on Arkansas ballots in 2024, said the video is scientifically inexact propaganda.
“Many committee members had no grasp of the actual science behind fetal development,” For AR People Executive Director Gennie Diaz wrote in a blog post urging Arkansans to contact their lawmakers. (For AR People is a donor to and content partner of the Arkansas Times.)
Before the House Education Committee passed the Baby Olivia Act, Rep. Denise Garner (D-Fayetteville) said she “wanted to make sure everybody understands that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the group of medical professionals who set the standards for women’s care, say this film is medically inaccurate.
“I just want you to realize that,” Garner said.
Two members of the public spoke in support, including Crystal Maynard, a pastor at TAG Church in Little Rock, and Jimmie Cavin, who made news for punching a member of the Saline County Republicans during one of its gatherings last September.
Cavin said the video is “not indoctrination.”
“It is biology, and how is education about a biological process indoctrination? That dumbfounds me anyone would make that argument,” Cavin said. “All I got was a dead cat we dissected and a frog [in school], which served no purpose to me whatsoever. At almost 63 years of age, I watched a three-minute video that taught me something.”
Kristin Stuart, a reproductive rights advocate, spoke against showing the film. It “demonstrates a clear ideological motive rather than an impartial approach to fetal development,” Stuart said, calling the film’s content “politically charged materials designed to manipulate students’ emotions.”
“It sets a dangerous precedent for allowing partisan propaganda in school curriculum under the guise of education,” Stuart said.
Debby Goolsby, a member of the Progressive Arkansas Women PAC, an organization that supports women seeking election in local or state offices in Arkansas, also spoke against it. Goolsby said she had an abortion, and that she felt the “Baby Olivia” video was meant to shame her and other women who chose to terminate pregnancies.
“The fact that it was created by an anti-abortion group should be enough to stop it right there,” Goolsby said. “I had an abortion, and I do not need to tell anybody on this committee what my situation was, but this video is meant to shame me, I think.”
In response, Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), said she believed the intent of the animated film, which does not depict an actual fetus in utero but is instead computer-generated, is “to accurately depict what occurs when fertilization takes place.”
“Would you not agree that the abortion folks, who, in my opinion, are rather radical, to misinform young women that the emerging developing baby is just a glob of cells, that it is nothing, but when you see the video, the baby has a brain, it has a heart, it has movement, it has different stages, to me that is so beautiful,” Brown said. “I think it is important for young girls to understand that they are not just creating a blob that they can get rid of.”
