Parents outraged after teacher shows pro-life video to fifth-graders

A public school in Manhattan is investigating after a teacher showed students a video of children acting out a baby's view on abortion.

Here's what we know

According to the New York Daily News, teacher Ju Ling Wei showed her fifth-grade dance class a pro-life video clip. In the clip, children act out a baby's point of view during a pregnancy that ends in an abortion at the sixth month.

"I still love you!" one girl calls out in the video, as the group acts out a dying unborn baby's last moments.

One 11-year-old in the class told the Daily News that she vividly remembered that the children in the film had said "it burns mommy! It burns," as they acted out what an abortion would feel like to a baby. She said that this was her "first time hearing about" abortion.

She said that after watching the video, Wei explained to the class that abortion was "a shot to kill the baby."

Parents were outraged, saying that their children were too young to be confronted with such topics.

"She said to me, 'What's abortion?'" Ishmael Alvarado, the father of a student, said. "My kids still believe in Santa Claus. They're still innocent."

Another parent told the paper that she was "really, really upset and angry and appalled" after finding out that her 10-year-old daughter had watched the video.

"I was crying. We don't even discuss the birds and the bee," the parent said.

What did the principal say?

"We are writing to let you know that it has been reported that an unsuitable video was shown to a class in the past two days," Principal Iris Chiu wrote in a letter to parents, obtained by the Daily News. "We apologize for any confusion that may have caused you or your children."

The video, titled "2018 National Fine Arts Merit Winner — Readers Theater — Life Flight," can be found on YouTube.