A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-207 and 22.1-207.1:1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to health education and family life education; certain videos and animations relating to human development inside the uterus.
HB719 would amend Virginia’s public school health education and family life education statutes to require additional instruction on human development inside the uterus. In health education, the bill adds an oral, written, or digital lesson about pregnancy and fetal development that must include a high-definition ultrasound video and a computer-generated animation showing fertilization and stages of development through birth. It also keeps existing health education requirements and adds a provision allowing menstrual education in grades four through eight at the local school board’s discretion.
The bill also expands family life education requirements. Any curriculum that includes instruction about sexual activity and pregnancy in the context of student health or healthy relationships would have to include the same ultrasound video and fetal-development animation. In addition, the bill reinforces or expands instruction on dating violence, abusive relationships, consent, sexual harassment, sexual violence, human trafficking, personal privacy and boundaries, and female genital mutilation, with some topics required and others optional depending on grade level and curriculum choices.
HB719 would directly amend §§ 22.1-207 and 22.1-207.1:1 of the Code of Virginia, making the new fetal-development video and animation content mandatory in specified health and family life education lessons. It would affect local school boards, curriculum developers, teachers, and students in Virginia public elementary, middle, and high schools by adding required instructional materials and, in some cases, expanding the scope of existing family life education content. The bill would also require the Board of Education to align standards and curriculum guidance with these new instructional mandates.
There is no recorded committee testimony or vote history in the provided materials, so the bill’s reception cannot be measured from formal debate. Based on the text, the bill appears to reflect a policy preference for more explicit instruction on fetal development and pregnancy in school health curricula, alongside continued emphasis on relationship safety and abuse prevention. Its placement in the Education Committee and the fact that it was left in committee suggest it had not advanced at the time of the provided record.
The most likely point of contention is the requirement that schools show a high-definition ultrasound video and fetal-development animation in lessons about pregnancy and human development, including in family life education tied to sexual activity and healthy relationships. Supporters would likely view this as medically informative and consistent with pregnancy education, while critics may see it as ideologically driven or as shifting family life education toward a particular viewpoint on pregnancy and reproduction. Other potentially sensitive areas include the bill’s treatment of consent, sexual violence, human trafficking, and female genital mutilation, though these provisions are framed as evidence-based safety education rather than controversial additions.