(Des Moines) Iowa House Representative Tom Moore voted no on HF2617, often called the “Baby Olivia bill” or Fetal Development Instruction bill. This bill would give specific instruction on pregnancy and fetal development in human growth and development for grades 7-12. The bill mandated the school districts show a video of baby Olivia in the womb.
Tom Moore also voted no on HF2278, the “Open Enrollment Bus Routes” bill. This bill would allow a neighboring school district to drive into another district up to two miles to pick up open enrollment students. Moore said this bill has been around for a couple of years and he has always been opposed.
Moore voted no on HF2544 which prescribes specific social studies standards by grade level with specific people, events, documents, etc. It changes the civics requirement to one unit and requires a civics literacy test in higher education. If a student doesn’t pass, they must take a remedial civics courts. Moore said being a social studies teacher for 33-years he saw many problems with this legislation and although changes in social studies standards needs to occur, this was not the way to go about it by mandate.
