Biology teacher showing her students the anatomy of human body. By BalanceFormCreative/stock.adobe.com.
Last month, Iowa passed a new law that requires public schools to teach prenatal development classes as part of their standard curriculum. Students in grades five through twelve will now learn about the process of fertilization, how and when organs develop, and the overall growth of the embryo. They’ll also watch ultrasounds or computer-generated videos to see how babies develop in the womb.
If all of that sounds like something that should already be taught in a basic biology class, you’re not wrong. Sadly, it seldom is. While other states may offer electives that do much the same, Iowa is only the sixth state to make it a requirement.
As the bill’s authors describe, the hope is that these materials will help to demonstrate “the humanity of the unborn child by showing prenatal development, starting at fertilization.” And that emphasis on the humanity of the baby from the moment of fertilization is crucial if we’re to change the narrative around the pro-life movement.
When does life begin?
While much of the discussion and debate about abortion treats the concept as a binary choice between the pro-life and pro-choice positions, the reality is that most people see the subject with a far greater degree of nuance.
For example, the latest polling shows that 55 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances, while 30 percent believe it should be legal in all circumstances. However, when researchers asked the same question, but with the added context of where the baby is in its development, they found that while 69 percent of Americans think abortion should be legal during the first trimester, only 37 percent support it during the second trimester. And that number falls further to 22 percent during the last three months of the pregnancy.
Clearly, most Americans have different views on the humanity—or at least on the value—of the unborn child based on how far it has developed. But would that change if people believed that life begins at fertilization?
A study of more than 5,500 biologists from over a thousand academic institutions around the world found that 96 percent of them affirmed the view that life begins at fertilization. However, a mere 38 percent of the general population shared that belief.
Teaching kids that life begins at conception shouldn’t be that controversial. That said, it’s also not likely to be enough. 85 percent of those who responded to the study above still identified as pro-choice, which demonstrates that there’s more to this discussion than simply when life starts.
Still, it’s an important piece to the puzzle and, when combined with the rest of the proposed curriculum, it could make an enormous difference in the number of people who choose life. Roughly 43 percent of the women who get an abortion are 24 years old or younger, so helping them learn to see the humanity and value in unborn children from an early age is precisely when that understanding is needed most.
As Henry Olsen notes, educating kids on the facts of human development in the womb “may not change opinions about abortion. People have a great capacity to rationalize what is in their interest. But knowing more facts about human development makes it harder to do.”
How will you make a difference?
Ultimately, making it easier for people to make the right choice by raising awareness about the wrong one is often the best we can do. The federal government is not going to pass laws banning abortion, and even when state governments do, the proliferation of abortion drugs means that most women who want to end their pregnancy can.
The best way to save unborn lives is to help their parents—and particularly their mothers—see that they are lives worth saving.
Programs like Iowa’s prenatal development classes are a great step in that direction. And education, whether in the classroom or at home, represents one of the best paths forward for the pro-life movement.
To that end, our ministry offers a variety of materials on this subject, and they can help you become both more informed on the truth about abortion and more confident that the pro-life position really does enjoy both biblical and biological support:
- An archive of our abortion-related articles and resources
- What does the Bible say about abortion?
- On the pro-life movement and politics
- When abortion goes from tragic to barbaric
- Why America’s primary abortion pill is far more dangerous than advertised
However, being informed means relatively little unless you’re willing to let that information change the way you live. So what steps can you take down that path today?
Will you contact your local school board to see if they will start the discussion of offering similar classes in your city? Will you contact state-level representatives to ask for the same? And what steps can you take in your own life to stand up for the humanity of unborn children?
As you consider your answer to those questions, please take a moment to be sure God is included in the conversation. He has given each of us a unique set of gifts and opportunities to help, if we are willing to do our part.
Are you?
Quote of the day:
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” —Mother Teresa
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