Arkansas poised to become fifth state to require school instruction on pre-birth baby development

Arkansas will soon ensure its public-school students learn about prenatal baby development.

The state House passed legislation this week to direct the state’s Department of Education to require a discussion about fetal development in its state education standards. The bill, already passed by the Senate, was delivered on Wednesday to pro-life Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is expected to sign it.

The measure will require schools to show children a “high-definition ultrasound” of an unborn baby. It will also require schools to teach the “process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus.”

The Arkansas Family Council (AFC) praised the proposal, saying it will teach young people the value of unborn life. 

“As we have said time and again, ultrasound images help demonstrate that unborn children are human beings,” AFC president Jerry Cox wrote. “Very few medical advancements have done more to change hearts and minds on abortion than ultrasound technology. In fact, research has shown that some women are less likely to have an abortion if they see an ultrasound image of their unborn child. S.B. 450 will help teach students that unborn children are living human beings.” 

Sanders, a Republican, has described herself as unapologetically pro-life. 

“I’m a big advocate for life, and I’m never going to apologize for being pro-life and for us as a society focusing on the most vulnerable demographic among us, and those are the unborn,” she told an Arkansas publication last year. “I’m going to continue to fight for Arkansas to be the most pro-life state in the country.” 

The Natural State is one of a dozen that ban abortion; another four ban it after six weeks, when a fetal heartbeat is detectable. 

If Sanders signs the bill, Arkansas will become the fifth state to bolster its fetal development education in the past two years. The others include North Dakota, Tennessee, Kansas and Idaho. 

Earlier this week, Kansas Republicans overrode Gov. Laura Kelly to enact a similar law. 

Lawmakers also overrode the Democrat on pro-life bills to calculate child support from the moment of conception and provide $3 million to support pro-life pregnancy centers and maternity homes.