&Quot;Rachel Levine&Quot;

Did U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, a physician, describe mothers as "egg producers" during her August 6, 2023, visit to an LGBTQ+ clinic in Alaska? No, that's not true: None of the sources describing this supposed remark use a direct quote or a recording to prove it was said, and a clinic manager confirmed to Lead Stories…

Are 4-year-old children prescribed puberty blockers as part of gender-affirming care? No, that's not true: The American Academy of Pediatrics told Lead Stories this claim is "not accurate." Puberty blockers are only prescribed once an individual has started or is beginning to start puberty. Four-year-olds do not normally go through puberty. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) on…

Does Boston Children's Hospital offer gender-affirming hysterectomies to children? No, that's not true: A resource from the hospital's Center for Gender Surgery states that only patients who are 18 years old and older can receive gender-affirming genital surgeries and the hospital released a statement stating that it would not perform a hysterectomy for gender-affirming care on any patient younger than…

Did Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, say that gender-affirmation surgery should be available to kids in an interview? No, that's not true: While Levine did support gender-affirming treatment, such treatment is an umbrella term that does not necessarily mean surgery. The claim was implied in a Facebook post on July…

Did Time magazine name Rachel Levine "Woman of the Year"? No, that's not true: This magazine cover is not real, it was published by "The United Spot," a Facebook page that is clearly labeled as a satire site. The fake magazine cover does not have any satire labels, but does have the watermark of The United Spot. The meme appeared…

Did schools ban Dr. Seuss books? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has not found any recent reports of schools which have banned all Dr. Seuss books in the wake of Seuss Enterprises' decision to cancel six titles of dozens because of "hurtful" images. In early March 2021 there were rumors circulating that Dr, Seuss was being 'cancelled', more specifically,…

Did Vanity Fair feature Dr. Rachel Levine on the March 2021 cover of the magazine, and did Dr. Levine send a 'thank you' tweet to Vanity Fair expressing dreams of one day being President of the United States? No, that's not true: This photoshopped magazine cover is not real and was tweeted by a parody account on Twitter. The fake…

Did Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf finalize and issue on October 27, 2020, a list of 13 rules for Thanksgiving household visits? No, that's not true: The document offered in support of the claim is not an official state document. It is designed to resemble the format of PDF files that could be downloaded from an official state website, but no…

Has Pennsylvania banned alcohol? No, that's not true, with one specific and limited exception: State officials banned the sales of alcohol for on-site consumption in bars and restaurants from 5 p.m. Thanksgiving-eve to Thanksgiving morning at 8 a.m. to discourage large crowds during a rise in COVID-19 cases. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) where it was…