Introducing Baby Olivia
Baby Olivia begins her journey as a fertilized egg making her way to the uterus. Her sex and characteristics are determined before she implants on the uterine wall. By three weeks, her little heart beats for the first time. By six weeks, she has noticeable brain activity and can hiccup. At 11 weeks, she is moving and exploring the womb. Her mom will start to feel her moving and kicking between 14 and 20 weeks.
With ample medical help, Olivia could survive outside of the womb by 20 weeks. At 27 weeks, she can see light and recognize her parents’ voices. In another 10 weeks (about 2 and a half months) or so, Olivia will signal to her mother that it’s time for her to be born!
She has been alive the whole time.
Returning to Biology
“Meet Baby Olivia” is a video created by Live Action for educational purposes that follows the development of an animated baby to communicate the humanity and beauty of life in the womb. And now, it is making its way into state legislation as well.
Recent legislation in Idaho, North Dakota, and Tennessee requires schools to teach 5th-12th grade students about fetal development. These mandates call for showing a video at least three minutes long highlighting every stage of human development including fertilization, organ development, and cell growth. Any class that covers contraception, reproductive biology, or sexually transmitted diseases is now required to address human development in this manner.
Live Action’s “Meet Baby Olivia” animation is one video educators can show their students. “Meet Baby Olivia” is a detailed depiction of life from fertilization to 38 weeks gestation and is certified by leading OBGYNs for scientific accuracy.1 Founder and president of Live Action, Lila Rose, affirms these bills saying, “the study of human development is a fundamental aspect of science education.”2
Cultural Shift for Life
Supporters of these bills celebrate a significant step towards equipping students with accurate information about human life, growth, and development. Idaho Senator Tammy Nicoles believes the legislation not only instills a “profound respect for life,” but also “encourages future generations to recognize the value of the unborn and lays the groundwork for creating a cultural shift that values and protects life at all stages.”3
From an educational standpoint, a baby’s development is purely scientific. Any biology textbook includes graphics of fetal anatomy. Human life is a probable outcome of sex.
Students learning about sex, contraception, and abortion must understand the impacts of their actions. For schools to fulfill their purpose of educating youth, all aspects of reproduction should be discussed candidly. In that regard, these laws add an additional layer of reproductive education.
Conversely, critics argue this bill limits the bounds of what instructors can cover in classes concerning human growth and development. The Sexuality Information and Education Council (SIECUS) complains that videos like “Baby Olivia” are “stigmatizing and medically inaccurate fetal ultrasound videos” and that they are the “greatest potential for harm, especially in a post-Dobbs America.”4
SIECUS has rallied supporters to sign petitions against fetal development being taught in schools. This organization “believes that sexually explicit visual, printed, or on-line materials can be valuable educational or personal aids when sensitively used in a manner appropriate to the viewer’s age and developmental level” (emphasis added).5
Still more critics argue that it is medically inaccurate to teach students that life begins at fertilization.6 But the scientific community says otherwise. According to the National Library of Medicine, 96% of biologists, across 1,058 academic institutions worldwide, say that life begins at fertilization.7 And indeed, Baby Olivia’s progress and development resembles that of a real, human child in utero and is scientifically accurate.
Fulfilling Ordained Responsibility for Children
Children in schools deserve a well-rounded, truthful education. Schools that teach about sex and contraception often fall short by failing to teach about fetal development. Ensuring the inclusion of that in the curriculum will offer children a substantial and factual education. It will show students where they came from, giving them a deeper understanding of their own personhood.
Furthermore, those images and instructions will humanize preborn children, making students more aware of the outcome of sex. If youth understand that their choices and actions could create a human life for which they are responsible, they might exercise more thought and caution before engaging in intercourse. And if one were to become pregnant, she will recognize that a human life lives inside of her and the only choice is to sustain, cherish, and bring that life into the world.
Psalms 139:13-14 emphasizes the sacredness and individuality of a preborn child. The psalmist recites:
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
Every child is molded and formed by the hands of God with care, detail, and intentionality. The innate precision is evident through every ultrasound and sonogram. Videos like “Meet Baby Olivia” give a face to over 65 million children whose value and purpose have been forgotten in the name of empowerment and choice.
As Iowa State Rep. Luana Stoltenberg says regarding the legislation: “What’s the worst that can happen? Maybe a young child learns how they are developed and grow and so if they become pregnant, they decide maybe I don’t want an abortion? Is that a horrible thing?”8
By passing Baby Olivia laws, states usher in a wonderful opportunity to impact the next generation and further the message that all life is worth protecting and nurturing.
Meet baby Olivia here.
Sources:
Idaho Public Schools to Teach about Prenatal Development
Human Development Education Bill Signed Into Law
SIECUS Sex Education Legislative Look
SIECUS 2018 State of Positions
Bill Would Require Schools to Show Fetal Development
The Scientific Consensus on When Human Life Begins
Have you Heard about “Baby Olivia?”
Endnotes
- Baby Olivia
- Human Development Education Bill Signed into Law
- Human Development Education Bill Signed Into Law
- SIECUS Sex Education Legislative Look
- SIECUS 2018 State of Positions
- Bill Would Require Schools to Show Fetal Development
- The Scientific Consensus on When Human Life Begins
- Have you Heard about “Baby Olivia?”
Alessandra Nash
Georgia Right to Life
Intern