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CV NEWS FEED // Arkansas’ House Education Committee on Feb. 4 advanced the “Baby Olivia Bill,” which would require Arkansas public schools to show a three-minute video LiveAction produced in 2021 regarding fetal development from the moment of conception.
With the Committee’s approval, House Bill 1180 has now been sent to the full House for consideration.
According to KASU News, the public media service for Arkansas State University, the “Meet Baby Olivia” video narrates the growth development of “Baby Olivia” through the nine months of pregnancy.
HB 1180 also requires schools that have “sex education” in the curriculum include instruction on abstinence and a video of an ultrasound in early pregnancy. Before the bill passed the Committee, members of the Arkansas House of Representatives who voted on the bill gave their input on the matter.
“We should bring some more awe and wonder into our classrooms,” Republican Rep. Mary Bentley said, according to KASU news. “I think students should be in amazement and awe of the human body.”
The bill has also faced pushback from critics who have claimed that the video is medically inaccurate and was designed to influence students’ views against abortion, as local news outlet KARK, an NBC affiliate, reported.
CatholicVote previously reported that Live Action maintains that the development the video shows is medically and scientifically accurate. The video was created in collaboration with a panel of embryonic and fetal development experts.
According to CatholicVote, West Virginia, Iowa, and Kentucky have all considered similar bills.
