FARGO

Fargo Public Schools will stop showing a particular video in ninth grade health classes that some parents and an advocacy group said was misleading and inaccurate.

A district materials review committee took up a “reconsideration of materials” request from a parent last month relating to the “Baby Olivia” video, which had been used to teach fetal development.

In an April 16 meeting, the committee voted unanimously to stop using the video, district spokesperson AnnMarie Campbell said.

Produced by Live Action, an organization that opposes abortion, the video uses a computer-generated animation of development of a human fetus.

Amy Jacobson, executive director of Prairie Action, a communications organization promoting progressive values, messages and actions, weighed in on the move.

“It’s really good to know that the propaganda video won’t be used in our classrooms going forward,” she told The Forum.

At a March 26 school board meeting, Katy McMullen-Wendt said Fargo schools must find a video that isn’t produced by an “anti-choice” group, or any specific organization.

Her son, Henry McMullen-Wendt, 15, a student at Fargo North, also addressed the board, saying the video spreads misinformation.

An April 22 report issued by Liann M. Hanson, Fargo Public Schools’ director of standards-based instruction, outlines the reasons the video will no longer be used.

The committee found the video met or exceeded expectations in many areas, except for these three:

• It contains significant portions of untrue information, inaccurate facts, and/or faulty premises.

• Company was unable to provide data regarding the effectiveness of the curriculum resource.

• Appeal of interest and needs of students as it is only used in a single course or a single classroom.

The report said “the video does not contain all major organ development; it states that the heartbeat is heard at three weeks.”

It also said medical experts, including the American Medical Association, found the video to be misleading because “it mischaracterizes how soon fetuses exhibit certain traits and uses a timeline for pregnancy two weeks earlier than is typical.”

When the issue arose in March, Fargo Public Schools confirmed its use of the video and that it complied with state law.

North Dakota lawmakers passed a bill in 2023 requiring schools to include a video in 9th grade health curriculum pertaining to growth and development and human sexuality.

Jacobson said more than 100 people living in the district had sent emails to school board members and the superintendent expressing concerns about the video.

“It was so amazing to see a student and parents … standing up to say this information you are showing in the schools is not medically accurate … and for those schools to hear them and to review it and to agree with them, it’s pretty powerful,” Jacobson said.

Campbell said she’s received word from two of the district’s health teachers that they will be using the “In the Womb” video by National Geographic to meet the state requirements going forward.