Des Moines, IA — Iowa Senate Republicans today advanced an amended version of the “Baby Olivia” bill, which further politicizes our classrooms and requires teachers to present propaganda as fact.
Even as amended, HF 2617, would require students in human growth and development classes in grades 7-12 be shown a “computer-generated rendering or animation that depicts the humanity of the unborn child,” which is undefined. The only video currently available to schools to meet this prescriptive requirement is the “Meet Baby Olivia” video by Live Action, an anti-abortion group pushing similar measures in legislatures across the country. Under the guise of depicting actual fetal development, the video presents personal beliefs and medically inaccurate information as scientific fact. The bill has already passed in the House.
“Iowans deserve comprehensive sex education—not a medically inaccurate and misleading video that further removes them from the fact-based, age-appropriate information they already struggle to access,” said Mazie Stilwell, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “Attempting to indoctrinate our youth with anti-choice propaganda is despicable. Implementing this reckless bill would only further send the state down a dangerous path that has already deeply cracked the foundation of Iowa’s health care system. Equipping students with comprehensive sex education is setting them up to to be healthy, well-adjusted adults who can make fully informed decisions about their bodies and futures. Young Iowans deserve better from the lawmakers shaping their futures.”
The measure is part of a slew of harmful bills moving through the legislature this session that endanger Iowans’ access to essential health care.
Other bills include measures that would loosen accountability and transparency requirements for the state’s MOMS program, which funnels $2 million in taxpayer money into anti-abortion centers. A bill protecting discriminatory actions and denying individuals rights based on religious beliefs awaits the Governor’s signature.
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa (PPAI) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission of fostering and preserving a social and political climate favorable to reproductive health. To meet this mission, PPAI engages in lobbying, issues education, and supporter mobilization.
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