Pro-life leader Lila Rose: Live Action's 'Baby Olivia' video shows baby's 'miraculous journey' inside the womb
Lila Rose, founder and president of pro-life nonprofit Live Action, speaks to Fox News Digital about the group's 'Baby Olivia' video that could potentially find itself in classrooms in several states soon.
Pro-choice OBGYNs blasted a fetal development video being considered for sex education curriculum in some states, with one doctor arguing the film was the "last thing kids need[ed] to be watching."
The animated video, created by pro-life nonprofit Live Action, follows the development of "Baby Olivia" from fertilization up to birth. Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia are considering legislation that would require students to watch the Baby Olivia video or similar fetal development videos in sex-ed classes. The efforts mirror a similar law passed in North Dakota last year.
Live Action touts their video as medically accurate and certified by six different medical doctors, including OBGYNs.
However, the video created an uproar among some pro-choice medical groups. OBGYNs in favor of abortion told Fox News Digital the video was medically inaccurate and misleading.
Pro-choice OBGYNs blasted a Live Action fetal development video being considered for sex ed classes in some states. (iStock)
"This video is misleading - and I am sure intentionally so - in that it shows development in weeks after fertilization, rather than weeks from last menstrual period which is how healthcare providers date pregnancy," Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, a board-certified OBGYN, said.
Lincoln, who is on the board of directors for abortion education nonprofit Mayday Health, emphasized how accurate pregnancy information was "more important than ever" since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
The video's different use of dating was a typical "tactic" used by pro-life groups to confuse women, she claimed.
"Confusing people as to how far along they are so they can't or don't pursue an abortion is anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center tactics 101 - and we see it now being used in an allegedly educational video. While at the very end of the video they mention this dating discrepancy, they know children likely won't see this or grasp the difference in meaning as it relates to pregnancy dating, development, and potential abortion access; this is no accident," she argued.
In this detailed video from pro-life group Live Action, animated 'Baby Olivia' is seen inside the womb. (Courtesy of Live Action)
"There are multiple other errors as well: calling electrical impulses a heartbeat, confusing sex with gender, calling a pregnancy a pregnancy prior to implantation, naming spontaneous movements as ‘playing’ etc.," she added.
Lincoln was adamant that the video should not be shown in schools because it was developed by the pro-life advocacy group.
"A video from an organization whose entire goal is to prevent abortion, fertility treatments, birth control usage, and bodily autonomy is the last thing kids need to be watching," she responded. "I'm all for teaching young people fetal development and sex education, but it must be medically accurate and from a source that is an actual expert. Live Action is neither of these."
The OBGYN encouraged states to develop "scientifically accurate" sex education resources "without a hidden agenda."
"Our students deserve that," she continued.
LAS VEGAS SCHOOL DISTRICT AGREES TO PROTECT FREE SPEECH RIGHTS OF PRO-LIFE STUDENTS AFTER LAWSUIT
Pro-life demonstrators (R) confront pro-choice counterparts (L) 23 January 2006 in Washington, D.C., as tens of thousands of pro-life and pro-choice opponents rally. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images)
Dr. Emily Boevers, a pro-choice OB-GYN out of Iowa, told Fox News Digital she also found the proposed video misleading for various reasons.
"It describes the gestational age based on post-fertilization rather than the more usual post-last menstrual period (LMP) age, which suggests developmental milestones earlier than what is accurate. It suggests that fetal movements have sentiment behind them like 'speaking, playing and stretching' rather than being spontaneous and neurologically immature reflexes. This is intended to evoke emotion from the audience," she said.
Like Lincoln, Boevers was in favor of expanded access to sex education but argued it needed to be accurate and "without bias."
"I am fully in favor of expanding access to comprehensive sex education, including teaching consent, safe sex practices, prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and scientifically accurate human development. However, education should be provided without bias and without speculation, which is not done in this video. It should also be done in an age-appropriate way by educators, anticipating that students will have many follow-up questions," she continued.
Live Action President and founder Lila Rose pushed back against these criticisms in interviews with the Associated Press and Fox News Digital. Regarding the dating discrepancy, she argued that the type of dating in the video is more commonly used in academic contexts like biology classes.
"Everything Dr. Lincoln says concerning Baby Olivia is a lie," Rose said to Fox News Digital.
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action (left); Screengrab from the 'Baby Olivia' video that could soon be shown in classrooms in several states (right) (Courtesy of Live Action)
"Preborn children have a heartbeat at just 22 days old," she said citing data from the Endowment for Human Development, Merck Manuals and various medical studies.
Rose also pushed back against the doctor's claim that sex and gender were different, saying the terms have "identical scientific meanings" and a baby's gender is determined at the "moment of fertilization."
"Science conclusively proves to us that a new and genetically distinct human being is created at the moment of fertilization. That is also when pregnancy begins, though mothers will not know they are pregnant for a few weeks," she added, pointing to statements from NIH pregnancy resources and embryology textbooks as her support.
"I think they're upset that this is a video that shows the humanity of a baby and, unfortunately, they don't want to have that shared with students," she told Fox News Digital last week.
Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
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