Families seeking information from a health care provider about a young child’s gender identity may have their questions answered or receive counseling. Some posts share a misleading claim that toddlers are being “transitioned.” To be clear, prepubescent children are not offered transition surgery or drugs.
The U.S. government will likely run out of money in early June unless Congress passes a bill to raise the debt limit. Here we look at the current state of negotiations and review how the past 10 debt limit disputes were resolved.
A TV ad misleadingly accuses Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of increasing taxes. But the law in question didn’t create a new tax. Instead, it implemented a more effective way of collecting an existing tax.
An Oregon bill that would eliminate parental consent for minors to access reproductive health care, including abortion, has been criticized by conservatives. But a liberal social media post mischaracterizes their opposition by claiming Republicans said girls “should be allowed to be forced to give birth to their rapist’s baby if the rapist is their father.”
Oil is formed in a process that takes millions of years, and there is a finite amount on the planet, scientists say. But a TikTok video shared on Instagram falsely claims that there is an “unlimited” supply of oil, and people are being “taught” otherwise to keep them “in a fear state.”
President Joe Biden has said he will seek a second term, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson have said they will challenge him for the 2024 Democratic nomination. But social media posts falsely claim that the party “just confirmed Michelle Obama will be its nominee.” There is no evidence that the former first lady is a candidate.
Former President Donald Trump’s town hall event felt like a lightning round of false and misleading claims — most of which we’ve heard before — on voter fraud, immigration, classified documents and more.
An international initiative called the Big Catch-Up aims to increase vaccination among children who have missed routine vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In describing the project, Chelsea Clinton did not say it was time to “force-jab every unvaccinated child in America,” nor will the project impose mandatory vaccinations, contrary to claims.
Dozens of studies support the use of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, which have a good safety profile and work well in preventing severe disease and death. Yet, citing a single, flawed paper, a British cardiologist known for peddling misinformation has misleadingly argued that the shots are harmful and “should never have been approved.”
May 11 will mark the end of the federal public health emergency for COVID-19, bringing changes to health care and public benefits.