Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on September 24, 2025
BOISE, ID – Idaho parents may start hearing about Baby Oliva in the coming months.
She’s not a new sibling coming to one of their classmates, but the fetus shown developing in a video created by an anti-abortion group that Idaho legislators and the Idaho Department of Education have encouraged be shown in schools.
The video is one of seven recommended by the IDE for schools to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 1046, which went into effect July 1. The law requires teachers to show students in grades 5-12 a high-definition, ultrasound video during instruction on human growth and development.
Some districts have already chosen to show the Baby Oliva video, while others are leaving the choice up to teachers and some have yet to make a decision. The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance edited together a video, which other districts are able to use.
School districts can show the video anytime during the 2025-26 school year.
Legal requirements:
- The video must be 3 minutes in duration.
- Show the developments of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.
- Be a high-qualify computer-generated rendering or animation that shows the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, weekly, until birth.
- The video must be show in every class that discussed or provides instruction on: human biology, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases or infections.
The attorney general may bring civil action to compel a district to comply with the law.
Idaho Department of Education guidance
In August, the IDE sent school districts guidance on implementing the new law.
Parents may need to opt in for their child to view the video due to a state law requiring parents to affirm that their student can receive instruction on human sexuality. The fetal development video must show the process of fertilization, to comply with the law, which could fall under sexual conduct and therefore necessitate an opt-in process, the guidance says.
These are some of the IDE’s suggested seven videos that would comply with the law, but districts and charters are free to choose any video if they feel it meets the requirements.
- Baby Olivia, which runs just over three minutes. The video was created by Live Action, an anti-abortion non-profit out of Virginia.
A still image from the Baby Olivia video (LiveAction).
- Conception to Birth Visualized runs about nine minutes and 40 seconds. The video is from a 2011 TedTalk by Alexander Tsiaras, an artist and technologist who founded TheVisualMD.
A still image from the Conception to birth — visualized video. (TedTalk)
- Embryo Development Week by Week from Imperial College London is suggested for high schoolers because the presentation used more advanced terminology. The video runs three and a half minutes.
- Pregnancy: A Month-by-Month Guide, by Paulien Moyaert, a Belgian researcher was suggested for middle and high school. The department also suggested Moyaert’s three more in-depth videos on each trimester of pregnancy if a teacher chose to go into more detail.
“When implementing policies and procedures surrounding these laws, LEAs should be mindful of the broad scope of what constitutes human biology, sex education, and human sexuality,” the guidance reads. “LEA policies should be vetted by local LEA staff and legal counsel.”
Despite IDE and the Idaho School Board Association’s suggestion to bill sponsors that they limit how often districts are compelled to show the video, that language did not make it into the law. Students could be required to watch the video seven years in a row, said Quinn Perry from ISBA. Legislators didn’t reach a consensus on the issue, she said.
The video was a topic of conversation among school leaders at the Idaho Association of School Administrators conference.
“In hindsight, I wish I would have stood up more and talked about how I don’t think that bill is age-appropriate for children who are in the fifth grade,” she said. “In the Capitol, it’s really easy to be targeted as a ‘social justice advocate,’ when in fact, you are actually having to weigh in on these very serious things…for our children.”
Video choice varies
School districts are starting to choose which videos to show. Trustees in Middleton voted on September 8 to allow the Baby Olivia video to be shown in classrooms.
In Coeur d’Alene, district leaders are letting teachers choose.
“We will be asking our teachers to choose which video to show from the lists above based on the age level of their students and the recommended grade level of the videos, in combination with the time they have available and the suitability of the video for their students,” Stefany Bales, the district’s spokesperson told EdNews in an email. “We have not yet had these lessons for students.”
Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) educators created their own video and resources to use both in their courses and for other districts, said Jeff Simmons, IDLA superintendent.
A still image from IDLA’s Human Growth and Development Ultrasound Video. (IDLA)
The video is a condensed version on the London Pregnancy Clinic’s week by week pregnancy series. The video runs three minutes and 40 seconds. IDLA also created week-by-week resources for teachers and students.
The Boise School District has yet to make a decision, Dan Hollar, the district’s spokesman told EdNews. Districts can show the videos anytime during the 2025-26 school year in applicable classes.
“We are carefully reviewing options and determining the best path forward to comply with the law,” Hollar wrote in an email.
Hollar said Boise intends to give parents advance notice of the content and an opportunity to review the materials before they are shown.
