When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, a trigger law went into effect in Tennessee banning nearly all abortions with extremely limited exceptions.
At that moment, millions of women, trans men, and nonbinary people with uteruses had their human rights literally stripped away. They were told they no longer had bodily autonomy, that their health didn't matter, and that their choices were obsolete.
It may sound like things couldn't possibly get worse -- but the Tennessee legislature just achieved the impossible. The House and Senate have both
passed legislation making an anti-abortion extremist group's film a required part of school curricula in the state.This is reprehensible. We simply cannot let these children be exposed to such propaganda.
Sign the petition demanding that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee VETO this horrifying bill!The bill is called the "Baby Olivia Act" after a reductive, manipulative video produced by anti-abortion extremist group Live Action.
The video is an animation of gestational development, and has been criticized by Democrats as insulting and reductive, while actual medical professionals have called it out for including blatant lies and misinformation. The video was cited in the bill's language as an example of what could be used to show to kids, without any choice or parental consent.
Under the "Baby Olivia Act," a video like this would be a mandatory part of family life curricula. These curricula are required in "counties where the teen birth rate exceeds 19.5 per 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19." According to the CDC, that's nearly 80% of all counties in Tennessee.
Family life curricula are centered around abstinence-only teachings and obsessed with the nuclear family, a style of education that research has proven is both "ineffective and unethical." The point is to convince pregnant teens to stay pregnant through emotional exploitation, when what kids truly need is honest sexual education -- centered around safe sex, effective measures that prevent pregnancy for sexually active people, and choice-based healthcare.
US Republicans cannot be allowed to further force their dangerous, personal ideologies on others -- especially children!
Sign the petition to demand that Governor Bill Lee veto this outrageous bill before it ever has a chance to do harm in Tennessee's schools!