Members of the Senate Education Committee voted to advance legislation Wednesday that would require Tennessee students to watch a fetal development video created by a group that opposes abortion rights.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, told committee members the video “Meet Baby Olivia” would be beneficial to younger children that have not been exposed to fetal development yet.
“They are teaching the life and the different stages and showing the benefits of abstinence, the benefits of marriage and they also this, in particular, the beauty of this is that many of these children younger, it’s become customary for mothers who are pregnant to have an ultrasound, it’s not uncommon for the older children to go in and be able to look at that ultrasound. So, for some children, they’ve already had this benefit at an early age to recognize the development, the incredible beauty and the incredible progression of the human life in utero,” said Bowling.
The “Olivia” video is a three-minute animation developed by Live Action, which is a group that opposes abortion. Opponents have criticized Live Action’s politics and questioned the medical opinions it sourced to create the video.
While “Meet Baby Olivia” is listed as the video in the bill, Bowling clarified that schools could screen any similar video that shows fetal development and that the bill requires the curriculum to include a video of at least three minutes like it.
Much like the companion legislation that’s advancing in the House, Bowling’s bill advanced with only the support of Republicans on the committee. Two Republican Senators chose to abstain from voting altogether, including committee chair Senator Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, and Senator Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga.
“It is a very powerful film. Anybody that sees it, the father or potential mother, (there’d) be no question if they would know where life begins,” said Gardenhire. “We as a body shouldn’t be dictating what curriculum is, we have a process to go through. Even though I’m in complete agreement with the ideal that you’re trying to promote, I just don’t believe we should be dictating what goes into the curriculum.”
Senator Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, was the bill’s only no vote. She said “Meet Baby Olivia” seemed like something for science class and cautioned about the group’s background.
“It seems like we’re placing a political organization’s video into our coke, actually. Obviously I’m opposed to this legislation, I think if we’re going to take three minutes to do something within the family life curriculum, certainly, especially when we’re talking about out our older students, that we should spend some time on something besides abstinence and maybe that would address the extreme pregnancy rates from rural, urban, and suburban and also the extreme rate of STDs,” said Akbari.
Democrats in the Senate have not attempted to add an opt-out in the legislation for parents who don’t want their children to watch the video.
House Democrats tried to amend the companion bill Monday to allow just that, but House Republicans voted it down.
