North Dakota Is Forcing Students to Watch Anti-Abortion Propaganda

North Dakota lawmakers have passed a bill forcing schools to blare anti-abortion propaganda videos at children.

House Bill 1265 orders school districts to show students a “high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.” The bill’s text does not mention any concern for medical or scientific accuracy, nor principles related to bodily autonomy.

The bill also orders districts to show students “high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for every week of pregnancy until birth.”

What might such content look like inside classrooms across the state?

One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Senator Janne Myrdal, presented a sample video called “Baby Olivia,” made by anti-choice organization Live Action.

“This is the moment that life begins,” a narrator says in the video, overlaying an animation of a sperm cell approaching an ovum.

The question of when “life begins” is a primary point of contention in the debate surrounding abortion rights; the video Myrdal presents, however, comes from an organization known for making heavily edited hoax videos to take down Planned Parenthood.

At 11 weeks, the video claims a fetus is “playing in the womb” and “moving her body and exploring her environment.” (Recall that the point of viability for a fetus is generally considered to be at 23 or 24 weeks.)

Districts are not required to show this particular video; however the “model” video was the main one grounding debate as the bill was being discussed in the state legislature. The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction told The New Republic that while the bill does not require schools to use a specific video, “this one meets the parameters.”

The bill passed just ahead of a restrictive six-week abortion ban signed Monday, also pushed by Myrdal.

Fargo school board member and state director of Planned Parenthood Katie Christensen noted that the school board of the state’s largest city opposed the bill. Christensen told TNR that experts came together to create the state’s current health education content standards, and that the law “disregards the hard work and expertise of those individuals.”

Myrdal, for her part, said showing the video to students would be “enhancing the understanding of life, enhancing the intrinsic value of human beings.” In February, Myrdal turned her back on a pastor who delivered a prayer to the Senate about the value of people of all backgrounds.

“Creator of the universe and all people therein, you who formed humankind in your image, placing them in this world in all their diversity—differing colors, genders, races, ethnicities, and language. We praise you for the splendor of your creation and the love that motivated your hand on this Earth,” Reverend Dr. Leanne Simmons preached to the Senate. Every floor session begins with a prayer by a religious leader, but only this specific deliverance about the value of all human beings brought Myrdal to protest.

Live Action hailed the bill’s passage as “ensuring all 116,639 students in North Dakota will be shown the truth,” especially in light of “one of the options presented for school district use being Live Action’s cutting-edge educational video Baby Olivia.” Myrdal has said that Live Action is even willing to relinquish its rights to the video, taking its name off the video and providing it for free to the state.

“We know that teachers already manage various tasks every single day and now this is one more requirement added to their plates,” Christensen said, adding that even though Live Action’s video will not be required, the bill still requires some form of video to be shown. “If a district or teacher wants to seek an alternative video, that would require more time and resources to fulfill this unnecessary mandate.”

As can be seen with the litany of copycat bills nationwide antagonistic to abortion rights, labor, LGBTQ people, and more, it’s possible that North Dakota will inspire other state legislatures as well. “With this bill’s passage, it is possible that other states will follow suit,” Live Action celebrated.

Fox announced Monday that Carlson would no longer appear on the network, a shock move that seemed to catch everyone off guard. Fox had even aired ads that day for Carlson’s show up until the decision was made public.

Carlson now appears to be persona non grata at Fox, despite being one of the network’s most popular stars. An interim show hosted by rotating anchors will take Carlson’s coveted evening air slot until a successor is announced.

Who do you think will replace Carlson?

The senator who sponsored North Dakota’s new near-total abortion ban, one of the strictest measures in the country, has a long history of trying to impose her own extreme views on the state.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, North Dakota has banned abortion after six weeks, before most people even know they are pregnant. The state tried to implement its trigger law, a total abortion ban, but the measure was blocked in the courts.

Governor Doug Burgum on Monday signed a bill amending the language in the six-week ban, effective immediately. The law now makes exceptions for rape or incest, but only up to that six-week limit. There are also exceptions for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies, when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, making the pregnancy nonviable and dangerous; and for molar pregnancies, another nonviable compilation when a tumor forms in the uterus.

Minors need to get consent from both their parents to get an abortion, with no exception for minors who might be abused by a parent or guardian, or they have to petition a court to get an abortion without parental consent. Doctors are required to lie to patients that medication abortions can be reversed. Any care provider who violates the law can be charged with a felony.

The measure was sponsored by Senator Janne Myrdal, an extremist Republican first elected in 2016. Prior to serving in public office, she led the anti-abortion group ND Choose Life and was a former director for the state chapter of Concerned Women for America, a conservative activist group that has lobbied for anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Myrdal co-sponsored a bill in January 2017 that would have classified all internet-connected devices as a “pornographic vending machine.” Under the measure, it would have been a crime to sell any such device in North Dakota unless the “obscene” material could be censored or internet users paid $20 for uncensored access.

Two years later, Myrdal co-sponsored a bill that would have required doctors to lie to their patients that it was possible to reverse a medication abortion (which made it into Monday’s abortion bill). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says abortion reversal claims are “unproven and unethical,” and attempts to reverse a medication abortion could put a patient’s health at risk.

Myrdal shared an image on her Facebook page of a Pride flag with a swastika on it, and after being met with outrage, apologized and said she never meant to post the image. She tried to defund North Dakota State University for launching a research project on youth sex education, and she backed a bill that would prevent government entities from requiring that employees be addressed by their preferred pronouns. That measure would also require teachers to get permission from parents and the school administration to use a student’s preferred pronouns.

More recently, she also sponsored a bill requiring all schools in North Dakota to show students a propaganda video from the anti-abortion group Live Action.

“Janne’s vision—and the vision of those like her—is to create a state where they make all the rules,” Amy Jacobsen, the executive director of progressive rights group Prairie Action ND, wrote in a 2021 op-ed. “What religions are acceptable. What should be taught in our schools. What sex education curriculum may be used (if any at all). What science to allow, and what science to deny.”

North Dakota’s Janne, like the many who came before her, carries out her bigotry and intolerance in the name of religion. Yet her views are not based on anything “Christian.” Christ taught acceptance, compassion, and to be cautious when judging others. Instead, Janna Myrdal is mean-spirited and only too happy to not only judge but lay out the penalties for those she doesn’t like. She is, in short, a bully.

It was the first night on Fox News without Tucker Carlson in seven years, and his former colleagues barely mentioned him.

Fox announced Monday that Carlson would no longer appear on the network. The decision seemed to catch everyone off guard, considering the separation was effective immediately and Carlson had no formal opportunity to say goodbye. Fox even aired ads Monday for an interview with Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Carlson’s show before the decision was made public.

It now appears that Carlson is already persona non grata at Fox. His departure was announced on air, when host Harris Faulkner simply read the statement that had already been released.

But on Monday night, Carlson got only the most passing of mentions.

Temporary host Brian Kilmeade also took over the big Ramaswamy interview, a sign that Carlson was ultimately replaceable to the network despite being Fox’s most popular anchor for years.

Weird theories are already circulating as to why Carlson is no longer at Fox, including that the network is trying to minimize the fallout of multiple lawsuits. But the important thing to remember is that now, there is one less fount of hateful conspiracy theories on air.

President Joe Biden has named Julie Chavez Rodriguez as his 2024 campaign manager. The news comes as Biden announced his bid for reelection on Tuesday morning.

Chavez Rodriguez embodies some of the most defining features of the president’s contemporary posture.

In one sense, Chavez Rodriguez is a Washington veteran. She is currently serving as the senior adviser and assistant to Biden, as well as the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Before that, she served as deputy campaign manager for the Biden-Harris campaign, as well as national political director and traveling chief of staff for Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.

Before the 2020 campaign season, Chavez Rodriguez worked in Harris’s Senate office, in the Obama administration, and in the Interior Department, including as the director of youth employment. All to say, she is a longtime fixture within the government—like her boss.

Biden’s lengthy presence in government has garnered trust, through a sense of reliability and relationship-building. It has also attracted scrutiny, in terms of all the undesirable outcomes he has tolerated or even advanced. Chavez Rodriguez’s own trajectory mirrors the dynamic.

Chavez Rodriguez began her advocacy as a child, knocking on doors and handing out leaflets with her grandfather, Cesar Chavez, in support of organizing farmworkers. According to the Los Angeles Times, Chavez Rodriguez and her cousins were around the famed organizer and patriarch so much, they joked that while others would go on family picnics, they’d be busy at family pickets.

After high school and on breaks from university, Chavez Rodriguez worked in AFL-CIO union summer programs. She worked with the United Farm Workers to organize strawberry pickers. She later worked for eight years as a program director at the Cesar Chavez Foundation, advocating for Latino and working families, before transitioning into volunteering for Obama’s campaign and then soon finding a job in the administration.

Besides her famed grandfather, Chavez Rodriguez’s mother, Linda—Cesar Chavez’s daughter—was active in organizing as a farmworker herself. Linda’s husband, Arturo, Chavez Rodriguez’s father, was just as active, serving as president of the United Farm Workers for 25 years.

While Chavez Rodriguez has deep roots in organizing and advocacy, her long arc serving in government has brought her to defend positions that may not offer confidence for what a fully progressive agenda looks like. In 2014, for example, when Obama faced criticism for operating as the “deporter in chief,” Chavez Rodriguez was serving as deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement, focusing specifically on Obama’s immigration reform efforts. She was tasked with overseeing outreach to Latino communities.

Chavez Rodriguez invoked her grandfather’s memory while explaining her role in defending Obama’s approach to immigration. “My grandfather helped me to understand that change isn’t immediate,” she told the LA Times. “It doesn’t happen overnight. It does take a lot of time and sacrifice. It takes consistent, sustained organizing and pressure to be able to see great progress in our country.”

“There’s no turning back,” Chavez also once said. “We will win. We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart.”

Chavez Rodriguez, like many campaign staffers, is but one cog in a larger machine. But in many ways, personnel does matter, or at least indicates the priorities of a politician. Since Ron Klain’s departure and Jeff Zeints’s empowerment as chief of staff, for instance, Biden has swung substantially right on a range of issues, from approving the overturning of Washington, D.C.’s criminal codes and proposing Trumpian immigration restrictions to greenlighting the Willow pipeline project.

While Chavez Rodriguez holds deep ties to labor and immigrant rights, she also has been in the tough position of having to defend officials who have fallen short of honoring those causes. She certainly has her own agency, and Biden’s trust in her may offer confidence in the direction he’d like his campaign to go; but it still depends on who else surrounds her and how much her being picked is about her actual work, rather than simply the succession of someone who has been in government for a long time.

To this day, Biden has a bust of Chavez in the Oval Office in commemoration of the famed labor leader. It will soon become apparent whether he will now welcome the full spirit of his granddaughter, or if he’ll simply prop Chavez Rodriguez up to shield off criticism—just as he has kept her grandfather’s statue in full view while lurching to the right.