House education committee advances bill requiring fetal development instruction in grades 5–12

The House Committee on Education approved Senate Bill 10‑46 as amended and sent it to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation by voice vote and a roll call that resulted in a 9‑4 vote with one member absent.

Senator Sarah Nichols, the bill’s Senate sponsor, told the committee the measure would add a new section to Title 33, Education, requiring instruction on human growth and development, including fetal development, in grades 5 through 12 beginning in the 2025–26 school year. “This bill helps to ensure that students are equipped with a more detailed scientifically accurate understanding of the stages of life,” Nichols said.

Sponsor Representative Heather Scott said the measure responds to what children are learning and how that shapes culture. “What we learn in schools, it basically turns into what culture becomes,” Representative Heather Scott said, recounting an anecdote about her niece and a county‑fair display.

Supporters at the hearing urged the committee to approve the bill. Terry Markcroft, representing Unplanned Good, said medically accurate animations and ultrasound images would give students tangible images of fetal development. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” Markcroft said.

Opponents raised concerns about local control, curriculum scope and medical accuracy of exemplar videos. Ashley Alloway, a parent who testified in opposition, said the bill “prescribes a narrow and very specific viewpoint that may not align with a comprehensive science based curriculum.” Health‑care students and workers who testified warned that a specific, circulated animation known as the “Baby Olivia” video contains inaccuracies. “The video…is inaccurate,” Hallie Fox, a health‑care worker and medical‑school applicant, told the committee, citing differences between the animation’s timeline and guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Committee members debated whether the instruction belongs in biology standards or in health/family‑life ("sex ed") courses that have opt‑in/opt‑out provisions. Senator Nichols and sponsors said the bill places the requirement under life sciences/biology standards and not under the state’s family‑life/sexual‑education statute; several representatives disagreed and said the content described in the bill matches current health standards and therefore should trigger parental notification and opt‑in/out options.

The bill requires districts to include two forms of visual material when human growth and development is discussed: A high‑definition ultrasound video of at least three minutes and a high‑quality computer‑generated animation that depicts fertilization and every stage of fetal development. Sponsors told the committee districts would choose specific materials locally and that the state’s existing “age‑appropriate” statutory language guides teachers and districts.

Representative Sauter and others asked whether the measures would be presented to students every year; sponsors said the materials would be included when the topic is taught, not necessarily annually for every grade. Committee members also asked whether the statute’s language requiring depiction of “every week of pregnancy until birth” could be met by available exemplar videos; one member noted an exemplar animation jumps between weeks and may not literally show each week.

After public testimony and sponsor remarks, Representative Hawkins moved to send the bill to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation. The motion carried on a roll call vote, 9 in favor, 4 opposed, 1 absent. The committee record shows the motion was made to send Senate Bill 10‑46 as amended to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation.

The committee discussion concluded with sponsors reiterating that specific video or curricular selections would remain local decisions and that the purpose of the bill is to add fetal development to life‑science instruction rather than to prescribe a single curriculum. The bill will now proceed to the full House for further consideration.