Rep. Dana Trabulsy (Photo via the Florida House of Representatives)
A Florida House panel on Tuesday pushed ahead with a wide-ranging education bill that includes a contentious provision to require some children in the state’s public schools to watch a video promoted by an anti-abortion group.
That same bill includes several changes on education policy sought by the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The House Student Academic Success Subcommittee voted overwhelmingly to approve HB 1255, which includes a mandate that grade-school students watch fetal development as part of their curricula before they graduate.
The bill specifies that the “embryologic development” information in come in the form of a “high-quality, computer-generated rendering, animation, video, or other multimedia, at least three minutes in duration, showing and describing the process of fertilization and various stages of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development.”
The state Department of Education would adopt rules to implement the requirement in health education curricula for students in grades 6-12.
The fetal development video is not included in the Senate’s version of the education bill, SB 1618.
Rep. Yvonne Hinson tried unsuccessfully to delete the provision in the bill.
“All young people deserve sex or reproductive education that is reflective of their experiences and needs. And experts in the field and child development agree this does not include watching a video of an ultrasound. Young people deserve better than this bill offers them in terms of this section of that bill,” she said, explaining her amendment.
This is not a religious stance. I did not bring religion into this. This is not about Baby Olivia.
– Rep. Dana Trabulsy
Live Action, an anti-abortion group, uploaded the “Baby Olivia” video featuring a British narrator and “Bridgerton”-esque background music in August 2021. It has since racked up more than 9 million views.
The organization says that the clip was reviewed and accredited by a group of doctors. They are all affiliated with anti-abortion or Christian organizations: American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Pediatricians, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Christian Academic Physicians and Scientists, and Christian medical and dental associations.
The video has been pitched as an educational tool for children in some states that enacted abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly three years ago. Critics say the video is misleading and contains medical inaccuracies.
Rep. Dana Trabulsy, a Fort Pierce Republican, denied in her closing remarks that her measure would require the Baby Olivia video to be viewed.
“This is not a religious stance. I did not bring religion into this. This is not about Baby Olivia. My hope is that when the video that is proposed in this legislation is determined that it will be a medically accurate video because, if not, we’re doing a real disjustice to the bill itself and to our children,” Trabulsy said.
She added, “This is not propaganda. This is not political. This is just a great education bill that happens to have a piece in it about biology and the development of human life.”
Dyscalculia
The mandate is included in a broad education bill that embraces a number of initiatives DeSantis has championed, including allowing charter schoolteachers and teachers who work at lab schools to qualify for Teacher of the Year, and to add the learning disorder dyscalculia to the list of specialties in which a teacher can be certified. Dyscalculia is a disorder that hinders people from understanding number-based information and math.
Before agreeing to pass the bill, the committee tagged on a 30-page amendment that prohibits a public school, charter school, school district, charter school administrator, or direct-support organization from spending money on any program or campus activities that advocate, promote or engage in political or social activism.
It also prevents said groups from purchasing membership in or buying goods and services from any organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or religion.
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