Anti-Abortion Propaganda in Schools
The anti-choice movement is pushing out their "education" plan
One of the anti-abortion movement’s biggest problems is generational: Young people are the most pro-choice demographic in the country. According to Pew, 74% of adults under 30 believe abortion should be legal in most or all circumstances, and nearly 40% believe abortion should be legal in all circumstances. A 2023 poll from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that adults under 30 were twice as likely to describe themselves as ‘pro-choice’ than ‘pro-life.’
The anti-abortion movement knows that their support is dying, literally. That’s why activists and lawmakers are ramping up their efforts to indoctrinate children as early as possible—not just in churches or through religious schools, but in public school classrooms.
This week, Kentucky Republican Rep. Nancy Tate introduced a bill that would require public middle schools to teach “human growth and development” by showing students a video by Live Action, one of the most extremist anti-abortion organizations in the country. Yes, that Live Action—the group best-known, of all things, for producing deceptive videos.
Not only would Kentucky schoolchildren be required to watch the anti-abortion video, schools that decline to teach it could be punished. The bill allows the state Attorney General to bring civil action against any public school district that refuses to use the video in their health class, and allows parents to do the same.
Rep. Tate says “It’s really important for children to understand human development.”
The video—which is made to look as if it’s an ultrasound, or images of an actual fetus (it’s not)—claims to have been “reviewed and certified” by healthcare providers. What kind of medical experts would sign off on such a thing? Well, those affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, of course! Remember, this is the so-called research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America; the group consistently puts out fake science, dubious data, and dispatches ‘experts’ to argue in favor of abortion bans. (One of Charlotte Lozier’s favorites is David Reardon, who has a degree from an unaccredited online university that was shut down as a diploma mill.)
The video has also been “reviewed and certified” by the American College of Pediatricians, an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ organization that’s been designated as a hate group.
And the Kentucky legislation isn’t a one-off. Last year, North Dakota passed a similar law requiring children to watch the same exact Live Action video. (Unbranded of course, so that students don’t know they’re being indoctrinated.) State Senator Janne Myrdal, who sponsored the legislation, said the law will ensure students see “the divine journey that every human being experiences.” (Update from Jessica: West Virginia Republicans have also proposed and advanced a bill requiring the video. Update #2: And Iowa. Sigh.)
That means this extremist group has been proposing legislation to multiple states, and that this is part of a much bigger anti-choice ‘education’ plan to infiltrate American schools.
Back in August, for example, I flagged this Newsweek op-ed from the leader of Contend Projects—a conservative anti-abortion organization disguising themselves as an educational institute. CEO Brooke Stanton wrote that the reason Republicans are losing elections on abortion is because of “widespread scientific ignorance.”
The answer, she wrote, is changing the national educational guidelines around what school children are taught about human development:
“Science education in schools is the most effective way to shape future generations. If pro-life leaders want to win the battle against abortion, they need to recognize and release the untapped potential of K-12 science education standards, by ensuring human embryology is in America's science classrooms. If they fail to do so, the abortion industry will continue its winning streak at the ballot box for many generations to come.”
“Untapped potential” should make your blood run cold. As you can imagine, Stanton isn’t interested in showing students what pregnancy and abortion actually look like. The idea is to lie to young people about human development in an attempt to convince them to oppose abortion—or, at the very least, feel a deep sense of shame if they ever do get abortion care.
They know what they’re doing. Just yesterday, I reported on new research showing that the more someone knows about pregnancy, the more likely they are to be pro-choice. That means that anti-abortion activists have a vested interest keeping students ignorant about the reality of pregnancy and fetal development.
This classroom push comes at the same time that groups like Students for Life—which began as an organization for college students—have started expanding their work into middle schools, bragging about “reach[ing] young people during the crucial developmental years.”
Their curricula (if you can stomach it) tells 5th to 8th graders that fetuses “have lost their value because of physical characteristics, just like slaves and Jewish people did before.” They teach students that “one million children are being killed every year,” and if they oppose that killing they must be ‘pro-life’.
“If you are against abortion, you are pro-life. Pro-life people assign value to all human persons despite age, gender, size, level of development or location. And believe it is wrong to kill children who are different than you and me.”
It doesn’t end there. While groups like Students for Life and Live Action are embedding their disinformation and scare tactics in schools, anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are doing ‘outreach’ to children in their communities.
One of the more recent tactics of the non-medical religious groups is to offer free sports physicals for female students—who are often required by their schools to have an exam. The groups consider it “a way to engage early with a population that might become pregnant and consider abortion.” More accurately: they’re using false pretenses to target children with propaganda.
I could go on. The point is that the anti-abortion movement know that Americans—especially young people—overwhelmingly support abortion rights. So they’re working to brainwash children while they’re as young as possible. And in the same way these groups and activists chipped away at our rights and freedom to ban abortion, they will use a bit-by-bit approach to dismantle education and the truth itself.
If you have tips about anti-abortion propaganda in schools, email me here.
As soon as I sent this out, a reader sent me another bill requiring THE SAME VIDEO - this time in West Virginia.
Why is this important when they fight against real sex ed so these kids understand the actual bodies that they have? I get infuriated at my county fairs when the local right to lifers show mini baby figures allegedly at various stages of development and represent that this is what a fetus actually looks like.
I literally stand there and argue with them every year.