Critics say proposed NH education bill pushes anti-abortion message through classroom videos

A bill making its way through the New Hampshire legislature would require schools to show a “high-quality computer-generated animation or ultrasound” of a fetus developing, with many saying its intent is to discourage abortion.

Growing up in New Hampshire, Jill Foster said she learned more about sex from her friends than she did in school.

“I remember learning about my period in school, but as far as the birds and the bees, I think my friends and other kids taught me more than school ever did,” Foster said with a laugh.

Foster said more sex education would have been a help, depending on the content.

“Sex education should be about teaching kids all the facts,” Foster said. “We should be taught all the options. Not be led to one viewpoint or another.”

All eyes are on the New Hampshire Legislature now, as they consider changing the state’s public school sexual education requirements via House Bill 667. 

It’s a bill that’s had some controversy in the “Live Free or Die” state, passing in the state House with amendments before heading to the state Senate, where it also passed. Both chambers of government are currently controlled by Republicans, as is the governor’s office, where the bill must be signed before becoming law.

The original bill required all public school students in grades 6-12, and all public college or university students, to annually view a “high-quality computer-generated animated or ultrasound” video on gestational development—in other words, a fetus’s growth and development in a uterus. 

The original bill specified that the video must be at least three minutes long and show the development of the fetus’s brain, heart, sex organs, and other organs. Alternatively, the bill offered the option of showing the highly controversial and medically inaccurate “Meet Baby Olivia” video made by the anti-abortion group Live Action. Also in the original text of the bill were instructions on abstinence and adoption education. 

The amended bill removes the higher education requirements, focuses the video on early fetal organ development instead of the full gestational period, and removes references to specific videos.

Republicans have said that the bill’s purpose is to provide students with a “clear and accurate view” of human development. But Democrats are opposed to the bill, saying its intent is to discourage abortion.

“There is no such thing as an ultrasound video that shows the development of a human heart, brain, or other vital organs,” said Sen. Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham) at a committee hearing in April.

Critics of the bill argued that if the purpose is genuinely to teach students about gestational development, there would be no reason to mandate mentioning abstinence or adoption. And if those measures must be included in the bill’s requirements, then all other measures or pregnancy prevention or resolution should be included as well.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England said that the bill “seeks to push an anti-abortion agenda on teenagers and young adults” in New Hampshire.

Foster laughed at the idea of a video educating kids on the development of a fetus.

“As a kid, I should have been taught about safe sex, birth control, STDs, and yes, abstinence, adoption, and all my options,” Foster said. “At that age, I didn’t care how a baby develops in the womb. That was the furthest thing from my mind.”

Foster said she supports enhancing sex education in New Hampshire, but thinks that it should be geared toward educating kids on everything having to do with the “taboo” topic.

“I wish I had been better prepared for sex and all the things that come with it as a teen,” Foster said. “I wish I would have known what all my options were. I definitely felt awkward talking to my parents about it. It would have been nice to have a safe space where I could ask questions and get factual answers from an adult.”