Tennessee students could be required to watch a video showing the development of a fetus under a bill that passed the state House last week.
House Bill 2435 would require schools to include a video of three minutes or longer depicting the development of a fetus in their family life curriculum. The bill specifically mentions "Meet Baby Olivia," an animation developed by anti-abortion group Live Action, but a different ultrasound or computer animation could be shown instead.
"The purpose of this legislation ... is that there is science introduced in this subject area," a bill sponsor, state Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, told her colleagues Wednesday. "A family life curriculum that directly or indirectly addresses human growth, human development or human sexuality would be incomplete if it didn't actually show the very beginning of that human life, which is at conception."
It would take effect starting in the 2024-25 school year.
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The bill passed the House along party lines March 18. Locally, Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, was not present during the House vote, but he voted against the bill in the House Education Instruction Committee. It passed the Senate Education Committee 6-1 on Wednesday. Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, voted no. Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and Committee Chair Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, abstained.
It awaits a vote in the full Senate.
"It is a very powerful film," Gardenhire said during the committee hearing. "Anybody that sees it — the father or the potential mother — there would be no question that they would know where life begins, but I agree with Chairman Lundberg. 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 idea that you're trying to promote, I just don't believe we should be dictating what goes into the curriculum."
The Baby Olivia video starts by saying "a new human being has come into existence" after an animated sperm unites with an egg and then tracks the development of the fetus until "Olivia" is near birth.
Akbari noted the film is created by an anti-abortion group, adding she'd rather see those three minutes of the family life curriculum focus on something besides abstinence.
"It seems like we are placing a political organization's video into our code," she said. " I would say I'm opposed to this legislation. ... I think that it's political. It politicizes something that should be a beautiful experience."
Medical experts have questioned the accuracy of the film. For instance, the video measures the start of pregnancy from the moment of fertilization, which is different from the medical standard of weeks since the last menstrual cycle.
Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, said the video depicts fetal development in an inaccurate and emotionally manipulative way.
"Young people regardless of where they live deserve honest, accurate and age-appropriate sex education that addresses their experiences and their needs," she told reporters last week. "Real comprehensive sex education gives young people medically accurate information without shame or judgment that sets students up for success in their lives and their relationships."
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.