A controversial video that shows the development of a human embryo was approved by the Arkansas State House Education Committee Tuesday, and by the full House on Thursday afternoon. House Bill 1180 (HB1180) involves a three-minute animated video titled “Meet Baby Olivia.” which shows the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development, and was created in 2021 by the anti-abortion organization Live Action Films. The new law would require the Baby Olivia video, as well as a video of a fetal ultrasound, to be shown in public schools statewide beginning in the 5th grade, as part of instruction on sexual abstinence.
Arkansas State Representative Mary Bently, R-Perryville, sponsored HB1180. “As a young child I have always been in awe of the human body. It just fascinates me, all that God did in our human bodies, and even how our eyeball works, it just fascinated me to study about the eyeball. And I think we should bring some more awe and wonder into our classrooms; I think students should be in amazement and awe of the human body, how fascinating, how it works.”
But, as Daniel Breen with Little Rock Public Radio reports, others spoke against the bill citing scientific inaccuracies and that the video was created by an anti-abortion special interest group. Arkansas State Representative Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville, pointed to the criticism of the bill from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). “It’s frustrating that, to me, that the folks that absolutely are in charge of evidence-based peer review have said this film is medically inaccurate, and we have folks that disagree with that,” Garner said. “The folks that set the standards for medical care for women’s health have said this bill is medically inaccurate.”
After much debate the full House passed the measure with 70 votes for it, all from Republicans. HB1180 headed next to the Arkansas State Senate on Thursday and has been referred to the Senate’s Education Committee.
Yet, an April 12, 2024 report posted by the Genetic Literacy Project stated: “Medical experts say the video’s timeline is about two weeks earlier than what doctors agree on. It’s also inaccurate in the way it depicts the range of movement for a fetus, showing Olivia moving much more than the average fetus would during the early stages of development.”
After reaching out to ACOG on this Friday, the organization responded to Red River Radio's request with this statement:
“Like much anti-abortion misinformation, the ‘Baby Olivia’ video is designed to manipulate the emotions of viewers rather than to share evidence-based, scientific information about embryonic and fetal development. Many of the claims made in this video are not aligned with scientific fact, but rather reflect the biased and ideologic perspectives of the extremists who created the video. ACOG is strongly opposed to the spread of misinformation about reproductive health.”
Controversial “Baby Olivia” Embryo Video One Step Closer to Law in Arkansas
