Anti-abortion ‘Baby Olivia’ video could be mandated viewing in Florida public schools

Florida could join a list of red states that are requiring public schools to teach “human embryologic development” as part of their health education curriculum, likely via a controversial video.

Filed Wednesday by Rep. Dana Trabulsy, HB 1255, would present the embryologic development information in the form of a “high-quality, computer-generated rendering, animation, video, or other multimedia, at least three minutes in duration, showing and describing the process of fertilization and various stages of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development.”

The state Department of Education would adopt rules to implement the requirement in the health education curricula for students in grades 6-12.

The mandate is included in a broad education bill that embraces a number of education initiatives Gov. Ron DeSantis’ has championed, including allowing charter schoolteachers and teachers who work at lab schools to qualify for Teacher of the Year, and to add the learning disorder dyscalculia to the list of specialties in which a teacher can be certified. Dyscalculia is a disorder that hinders people from understanding number-based information and math.

Bill sponsor Rep. Dana Trabulsy didn’t immediately respond to Florida Phoenix’s request for comment Thursday. The bill had not been referred to any House committees and there was no Senate companion.

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat representing part of Palm Beach County. Credit: House of Representatives.

While HB 1255 bill doesn’t mention any video by name, Florida appears to be following the lead of other Republican-led states that have pushed similar legislation backed by the anti-abortion group, Live Action. It has produced a video called “Baby Olivia,” which has racked up more than 9.6 million views on YouTube.

The video measures gestation from fertilization (not two weeks since last menstrual period, the standard for obstetricians) and takes the viewer through 38 weeks, when the narrator says, “She will soon signal to her mother it’s time for delivery and greet the outside world.”

Live Action posts “frequently asked questions” below the video including, “How do we know life begins at fertilization?”

The answer: “Countless scientists and textbooks confirm that human life begins at the moment a male’s sperm penetrates a female’s egg immediately causing a new human with its own unique DNA to exist and grow.”

Propaganda

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore said she was “sick to her stomach” after watching the video, which she called “propaganda” to “brainwash children.”

“This is not science. This is not what we teach in school. We teach science, and the science says we don’t know when life begins; it’s not at conception. More than half of the population believe that it is not at conception. And this is religion education being brought into our public education environment and it has no place there.”

States Newsroom, of which Florida Phoenix is a member, reported earlier this month about a number of states that have required the video to be shown.

Tennessee lawmakers, the story notes, passed the bill last year and it was signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Similar proposals advanced this year in Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Anna Eskamani via Florida House

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, denounced the proposal.

“I find it super ironic that the Legislature has banned books and restricted specific content that they don’t like and here they are promoting content that is political in nature developed by an anti-abortion group. They truly are pushing that content onto children. It is offensive. It is disgusting. It’s another example of public dollars being used to push a political agenda,” Eskamani told the Florida Phoenix.

“It’s so gross, when 57% of voters are telling you they don’t support your anti-abortion agenda and yet you continue to pursue it.” She referred to yes votes for Amendment 4 last year, which would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution but fell short of the 60% approval requirement.