6 Misleading Or Inaccurate Statements This Viral Fetus Development Video Makes, As It'll Be Required Viewing In Some Schools
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion groups have taken to schools to further propagate misleading information on reproduction.
As the Guardian notes, North Dakota became the first state last year to pass a law requiring schools to show a video called "Meet Baby Olivia" — or something in a similar vein. "Meet Baby Olivia" is a video that garnered millions of views since it was posted two years ago. It's made by Live Action, an anti-abortion group that insists its depiction of a fetus is "medically accurate."
A similar video, in the parlance of the North Dakota legislation, refers to “a high-definition video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.”
Tennessee has followed with a "Baby Olivia" law this year. Bills to show such videos in sex education have appeared in at least 10 other states this year, with the video named in at least five.
So, here's some of the many misleading statements the video makes:
1.Inaccurate: "This is the moment where life begins."
This is a subjective statement. Many people do not agree that life begins at conception, even within religions. For example, the Talmud states that life begins at birth in Judaism.
2.Misleading: how old the embryo is.
This video marks the embryo's growth from conception, which is not how pregnancy is typically measured. Instead, it is usually tracked from the last known period. This is important to note because many of the markers used in this video are presented around two weeks earlier than they would be in medical terms. So when the video states that "the buds of her arms and legs appear by four weeks," the UK's NHS states that the development of limb buds begins at six weeks.
3.Inaccurate: "At three weeks and one day, just 22 days after fertilization, Olivia's heartbeat can be detected."
At this time of gestation (in medical terms, around five or six weeks), the cells that can one day become a heart begin to emit electrical activity. This cannot be detected on a sonogram until some weeks later. As University of California associate professor and OB-GYN Dr. Jennifer Kerns told NPR in 2022, "What we're really detecting is a grouping of cells that are initiating some electrical activity. In no way is this detecting a functional cardiovascular system or a functional heart."
4.Misleading: how an embryo looks.
Live Action, MYA Network / Via myanetwork.org
The image on the left is Live Action's depiction of an embryo at six weeks. On the right is what real pregnancy tissue looks like to the naked eye in the first trimester, courtesy of MYA Network.
5.Inaccurate: "At 11 weeks, she is playing in the womb, moving her body, and exploring her environment."
Compare this with an excerpt from a 2022 review from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: "The first involuntary fetal movement begins around 7 gestational weeks; independent voluntary movement, such as kicking, commences at 12 weeks as the neuromuscular unit continues to grow. Distinct movement patterns, such as startle, hiccup, stretch, and head or eye movements usually occur at about 15 gestational weeks."
6.Misleading: "Beginning at 18 weeks, ultrasounds show speaking movements in her voice box."
Dr. Liji Thomas puts the development of vocal chords at closer to 28 weeks. The use of "speaking" is subjective, as babies only begin regularly babbling around six months after being born. The anatomy or anomaly scan (i.e. the scan that takes place around 20 weeks) is used to check physical development and see if there are any congenital disabilities or issues with the organs.
You can read more about the proposed bill here.
