A bill recently introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives would require public schools to show a pro-life video depicting the stages of a pregnancy to students in grades three through 12 starting next school year.
Dayton Daily News reported that HB 485, known as the “Enact the Baby Olivia Act,” would mandate the pro-life video as part of “human growth and development” curricula.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the “Meet Baby Olivia” video, created by Live Action, shows fetal development from the moment of conception, when life begins. The video affirms that fertilization brings a new human being into existence, adding that at that moment, “gender, ethnicity, hair color, eye color and countless traits are already determined.”
The bill also protects the video from being counteracted by newly developed curricula and requires the state Department of Education and Workforce to audit schools annually to ensure the video is being shown to students. The Ohio attorney general could sue schools that refuse to include the video in their classes.
According to Dayton Daily News, the bill would also require students to watch a high-definition ultrasound that is at least three minutes long and depicts early fetal development of organs.
Republican Rep. Melanie Miller is sponsoring the bill. She argued in the legislation’s hearing, before the House Education Committee, that passing the bill would demonstrate Ohio’s commitment to “scientific literacy” in classrooms and strong educational standards, Dayton Daily News reported.
“The miracle of life is not something that can be easily explained. By equipping students with the resources and knowledge about the remarkable stages of life, we can promote informed discussion grounded in science and respect for human biology,” Miller said, according to the outlet. “This bill does not seek to replace or alter current education standards but to enrich them with a focused, factual presentation of human development.” Miller also pointed out that six other states recently passed similar bills.
In response to Democratic Rep. Sean Brennan’s objection that promoting Live Action’s video could be unconstitutionally giving the organization a “statutory monopoly in our classrooms,” Miller said, as Dayton Daily News reported, that she would be willing to amend the bill to include other similar materials.
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