News from the South - Florida News Feed
Anti-abortion ‘Baby Olivia’ video could become required viewing for some schoolkids

Anti-abortion ‘Baby Olivia’ video could become required viewing for some schoolkids
by Elisha Brown, Florida Phoenix
February 15, 2025
Grade school students in several Republican-led states may soon be required to watch a fetal development video produced by a prominent anti-abortion group as part of their curricula.
Live Action uploaded the “Baby Olivia” video featuring a British narrator and “Bridgerton”-esque background music in August 2021. It has since racked up more than 9 million views.
The organization says that the clip was reviewed and accredited by a group of doctors. They are all affiliated with anti-abortion or Christian organizations: American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Pediatricians, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Christian Academic Physicians and Scientists, and Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
The video has been pitched as an educational tool for children in some states that enacted abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly three years ago. Critics say the video is misleading and contains medical inaccuracies.
“This isn’t sex education. This is a disinformation campaign designed to brainwash young children and force an out-of-touch and wildly unpopular regressive and false reproductive agenda in the public education system, using anti-abortion, anti-science propaganda about fetal development,” said Christine Soyong Harley, president and CEO of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, last year.
Soyong Harley’s statement was a response to Tennessee lawmakers passing the “Baby Olivia Act.” Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation in April 2024. North Dakota’s version of the law took effect in 2023, but it doesn’t require schools to show the Live Action clip specifically.
Similar proposals advanced this year in Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. The Arkansas House passed a measure that would make public school students in grades 5-12 watch the fetal development video. According to Arkansas Advocate, Democratic Rep. Steve Magie, an ophthalmologist, said fifth grade is too early to watch the video and derided the clip for measuring gestation from fertilization instead of a patient’s last menstrual period — an obstetrics standard.
Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, the bill’s sponsor and a nurse, said the video is accurate and endorsed by OB-GYNs who oppose abortion, the Advocate reported. “Kids are seeing so much already on their phones, and they’re hearing stuff in the bathroom,” she said. “I want them to see some truth and know what’s happening so they can have honest discussions.”
Bentley’s bill stalled in committee after members of her party and the public raised concerns about forcing students to watch the “Baby Olivia” video, according to the Advocate.
“I may agree with it today, but I’m not going to be here in several years, and what if Live Action becomes something that I don’t agree with tomorrow,” Republican state Sen. Joshua Bryant said Monday.
GOP lawmakers in Iowa are arguing that fetal development videos should be shown to first graders. While a state Senate bill does not reference the Live Action video, it says children in first through 12th grades should watch depictions of “the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization,” Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. The state House passed a similar law referencing “Baby Olivia,” Live Action and anti-abortion groups in the spring.
A Nebraska Republican filed a somewhat toned-down version in January. State Sen. Rick Holdcroft’s legislation would require education officials to adopt standards for human development curricula and show videos depicting the creation of vital organs, Nebraska Examiner reported.
The proposal was referred to an education committee last month. “Part of the bill is that if parents think that’s too much for their child, well, then they can opt out,” Holdcroft said.
In Oklahoma, a fetal development bill does not explicitly mention Live Action or the video, but does specify that starting Nov. 1, curricula must include “a high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the fetus in a biological woman.”
The Senate version of the bill was sent to an education committee, and its House companion was referred to a rules committee. Republican state Rep. Emily Gise amended the “Window into the Womb Act” on Feb. 7. Under the measure, public school students would have to watch a video about human development in order to graduate high school. Parents and guardians could sign a form allowing their kids to opt out.
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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
News from the South - Florida News Feed
U.S. small manufacturers hope to benefit from tariffs, but some worry about uncertainty

SUMMARY: Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire Products, supports the Trump administration’s tariffs aimed at rebalancing trade in favor of U.S. manufacturers. He believes overseas competitors have unfair advantages, creating an uneven playing field for American workers. The administration seeks to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, which has declined by 35% since 1979, by imposing tariffs to encourage local production. However, some small manufacturers, like Corry Blanc and Michael Lyons, express concerns about the resulting economic uncertainty and potential recession. In contrast, Bayard Winthrop of American Giant remains hopeful that tariffs will lead to a resurgence of American-made products.
The post U.S. small manufacturers hope to benefit from tariffs, but some worry about uncertainty appeared first on www.clickorlando.com
News from the South - Florida News Feed
JD Vance goes to the Vatican following remarkable papal rebuke over Trump crackdown on migrants

SUMMARY: U.S. Vice President JD Vance is meeting Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin after a papal rebuke of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Vance, a Catholic convert, has defended these policies through medieval Catholic theology concepts, which Pope Francis directly criticized. The Pope advocates for broader compassion toward migrants, contrasting Vance’s more hierarchical view of care. While in Rome for Easter, Vance attended Good Friday services at St. Peter’s Basilica with his family. He has previously criticized Francis but recently expressed prayers for the Pope’s recovery, highlighting the complex relationship between them on issues of social justice and migration.
The post JD Vance goes to the Vatican following remarkable papal rebuke over Trump crackdown on migrants appeared first on www.news4jax.com
News from the South - Florida News Feed
Federal judge extends block on Florida immigration law that led to arrest of a U.S. citizen

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
April 18, 2025
A federal judge brought up the arrest in Leon County of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, during a hearing Friday in which she extended her block of the new Florida immigration law until April 29.
U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams expressed frustration about the arrests of Lopez-Gomez and others, said an attorney representing the immigrants and groups suing the state.
At issue is Williams’ April 4 order temporarily barring enforcement of a law passed during a special session earlier this year making it a first-degree misdemeanor to illegally enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.”
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s arrest of Lopez-Gomez on Wednesday prompted national attention following Florida Phoenix’s reports that he was set to remain in jail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had placed a 48-hour hold on him — even after a Leon County judge determined there had been no probable cause for the arrest.
Lopez-Gomez was released from Leon County jail on Thursday evening. The 20-year-old held his mother in a tight embrace and wept when they reunited.
“We appreciate that the federal courts have seen through this blatantly unconstitutional law, but the reality is that, without enforcement, it seems that local law enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol are continuing to ignore the judge and order,” said Miriam Fahsi Haskell, an attorney for Community Justice Project representing the plaintiffs, in a phone interview with the Phoenix. “The reality is that once a person is arrested under SB 4C and booked into jail, that person risks then having an ICE hold on them.”
Community Justice Project, the ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Florida Legal Services attorneys are representing the plaintiffs: the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., and two women without permanent legal status.
David Matthew Costello, lead attorney representing Attorney General James Uthmeier, declined to comment, and a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not respond to the Phoenix’s questions. The other defendants are the statewide prosecutor and state attorneys.
Binding?
During the hearing at the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida in Miami, attorneys representing the state argued that law enforcement is not bound by Williams’ order, Fahsi Haskell said. Another hearing is set for April 29.
“The Court enters a [temporary restraining order] prohibiting Defendants and their officers, agents, employees, attorneys, and any person who are in active concert or participation with them from enforcing SB 4-C,” Williams’ order states.
Two other men were with Lopez-Gomez when the trooper stopped the car because the driver was going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the arrest report. The driver, Estiven Sales-Perez, and another passenger, Ismael Sales-Luis, were also charged with illegal entry as “unauthorized aliens.” The driver was also charged with driving without a license.
ICE has taken custody of Sales-Perez and is holding him in a Tallahassee field office, according to the online detainee locator system.
“Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work willingly with our federal partners to engage in interior enforcement of immigration law,” a spokesperson for the agency wrote in a statement to the Phoenix.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the arrest a kidnapping.
“Where does the lawlessness of this administration stop? If this can happen to an American-born citizen, it can happen to any of us,” she said in a statement.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
The post Federal judge extends block on Florida immigration law that led to arrest of a U.S. citizen appeared first on floridaphoenix.com
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