Iowa Republican lawmakers have resurrected a proposal requiring schools teach anti-abortion propaganda to students in grades 7-12 (12 years old and up).
The legislation would require the human growth and development curriculum to include a three-minute animation showing organs developing in a fetus.
The bill language is identical to similar bills that failed to make it to the floor in the 2024 session.
At the time, doctors spoke out about how information in that video is wrong about stages of fetal development and what doctors can actually observe during a pregnancy.
One of the two bills also requires showing a rendering or animation like one developed by an extreme anti-abortion group called Live Action with a reputation for creating deceptive videos. This specific video isn’t required, but the law requires a video like it.
The video used as an example is computer generated, argues life begins at conception, and lies about actual fetal development, saying some stages happen earlier in development than they actually do and that brain waves can be detected, which isn’t true at any point in pregnancy.
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 bills were introduced by far-right members of the Legislature, including Rep. Skyler Wheeler (R-Hull), who chairs the House Education Committee, and new Rep. Samantha Fett (R-Carlisle), chair of Warren County Moms for Liberty, who has frequently been at the Iowa Capitol to show support for anti-LGBTQ legislation and book bans. She is vice chair of the House Education Committee.
