(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would require that schools show an ultrasound as well as a video about fetal development to students in 4th through 12th grades has passed the Iowa Senate. Senator Jeff Taylor, a Republican from Sioux Center, says the video will encourage respect for life, no matter how small. “Whether we are a zygote or then we become an embryo and then we become a fetus, it’s all the same person,” Taylor said. “These are just stages of development that have been given scientific names.”

Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner of Iowa City says the bill pushes a political agenda. “It refers to an unborn child. Your religion may teach that a fetus is a child. Mine does not,” Weiner said. “I would hope we could all agree that religion doesn’t belong in the science classroom.” All but one Democrat in the Senate voted against the bill. Senator Molly Donahue, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the bill is based on an ideology and local schools should decide what’s appropriate to show in classrooms.

“Communities vary widely across our state in their perspectives and a one-size-fits-all programming does not fit the perspective of all families,” Donahue said. Republican Senator Kevin Alons of Salix says the bill addresses the fundamental question of when life begins. “It kind of boggles my mind to think that it’s somehow political to talk about fetal development from conception on,” Alons said.

Republicans in previous years have proposed similar bills that would have required that schools show a video — titled “Baby Olivia” — that was produced by a group that opposes abortion. This year’s version does not mention a specific video.