IA Republicans advance bill to make schools teach that life begins at conception

A bill requiring educators to teach students that life begins at conception was passed through a Senate subcommittee on Thursday by Sens. Jeff Taylor (R-Sioux Center) and Sandy Salmon (R-Janesville).

Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D-West Des Moines), who also sat on the education subcommittee, did not sign on to the bill.

“I support the bill because human growth and development doesn’t start just with birth. It begins before birth. It begins with fertilization and conception,” Taylor said.

The legislation would require the human growth and development curriculum from grades one to 12 to include an animation “that depicts the humanity of the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development throughout every stage of pregnancy.”

It also requires showing a high-definition ultrasound video showing the presence of organs in early fetal development.

A similar bill was introduced in the Iowa Legislature last year, and it made reference to a specific video called “Meet Baby Olivia,” which was made by an explicitly anti-abortion group. The video argues life begins at conception and lies about actual fetal development. The video also pushes the lie that the electrical pulses that can be detected as early as six weeks is a heartbeat, despite there not being a physical heart developed.

The group behind the video has said the goal is to make young people support abortion bans.

The Senate version of the bill doesn’t name a specific example video, but the House version does.

Still harmful

Opponents of the bill, particularly students, were concerned that, even if “Meet Baby Olivia” isn’t required, the legislation still promotes misinformation and anti-abortion propaganda.

Two medical students at the University of Iowa, Savantha Thenuwara and Alexandra Weresh, said they’d like to stay in Iowa, but bills like this might change their mind.

“We are deeply discouraged by the consideration of presenting factually inaccurate information and education materials to our youth,” Weresh said. “Such misinformation undermines the integrity of medical education and could mislead young people in their understanding of critical medical issues, making it harder to stay in a state and build our careers here.”

“We are proud graduates of Iowa high schools and we support a curriculum in Iowa schools that educates individuals on science-based medicine around our reproductive system,” Thenuwara said.

Genevieve Weis, a junior in high school, and Grayson Shonka, a high school senior, asked the legislators to oppose the bill for similar reasons.

“Health classes are meant to help students understand their body, their health, and their life. Forcing a video like this promotes misconceptions that do not help students at all,” Shonka said.

Supporters of the bill, including Moms for Liberty members Amber Williams and Patty Alexander, said education like this is important because it might convince people not to have abortions.

“One of my very good friends had an abortion, and she said that this information would make a life changing decision much easier for her,” Alexander said. “She just wants people to be totally informed about what an abortion is and what’s happening to the baby in her tummy.”

Now the bill passed the subcommittee, it can be debated in full committee.

Trone Garriott said she was concerned about the requirement that students from first grade to 12th are using the same source—a computer-generated, or animated, video—because 7-year-olds and 17-year-olds have different levels of understanding.

She was also bothered by the bill striking references to experts like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Public Health Association in the part of the bill that defines research.

“The thing that bothers me most about this legislation is we have actual scientific ways of seeing cells dividing, seeing human development in utero,” Trone Garriott said. “And why would we choose to have animated or AI generated materials when we have actual scientific materials available? Why would we choose a cartoon over actual scientific evidence?”

Taylor said he would speak with the chair of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Lynn Evans (R-Aurelia), about making changes to the bill like raising the starting age to something higher than first grade and removing the requirement that the video be computer generated.

“In the end, this isn’t about religion. This isn’t about emotion,” Taylor said. “This is about science, and this is trying to inculcate in our children an understanding of when human life begins, how it begins, and a respect for that human life as a result of that increased knowledge.”