As students return from summer break, Kansas school districts are still figuring out how to comply with a new law that requires certain classes to show a three-minute video of human development in the womb.
The Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature passed the law last session by overriding a veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. It took effect on July 1.
The video can be of a high-definition ultrasound or a “high-quality, computer-generated animation.” It must show the development of the brain, heart and other vital organs in any class that covers human growth, human development or human sexuality.
DEBATE ON the bill drew testimony from anti-abortion groups, who said it addresses a major gap in scientific curriculum, and reproductive rights advocates, who said the law sets no minimum standard for the scientific accuracy of the videos.
The new policy also comes at a time when conservative state lawmakers continue efforts to restrict abortion access despite Kansas voters in 2022 overwhelmingly voting to preserve the right to the procedure in the state constitution.
The relevant text of the law is just 62 words long, leaving questions about how schools can comply with the requirement.
The legislation does not specify which grade levels should watch the video, nor does it grant the Kansas State Board of Education the authority to guide schools through implementation.
“You have now truly left 286 school districts to have to come up with 286 policies, procedures, curriculum (and a) video, and it just opens up a wide variety of interpretations,” said Kansas education commissioner Randy Watson at a June board meeting.
Frank Harwood, deputy commissioner for the state education department, said at the same meeting that the law’s vagueness invites room for legal disputes over how a local school district should implement it.
“Districts could find themselves in lawsuits no matter what they do,” he said.
A piecemeal approach
Without oversight from the board of education, some school districts have sought guidance from the Kansas State Department of Education.
Deputy Commissioner Renee Nugent of the KSDE has advised school districts to source fetal development videos from national health organizations and medical or scientific publishers.
She said schools should follow their normal procedures for notifying families of the change and allowing parents to opt their child in or out of the material.
But Nugent said KSDE will not tell districts which videos to show, which grades to include or which classes need to show it.
“The law is pretty broad and I wouldn’t want to be responsible for giving school districts something that the law didn’t intend,” she said.
One of the organizations that lobbied in favor of the bill was Kansans for Life, an advocacy group that opposes abortion.
