Abortion

Do Pepsi Co. and other food companies use cells from aborted fetuses as ingredients for their products? No, that's not true: The false claim is based on the use of HEK 293 cells -- which were developed decades ago from live-baby birth fetal cells -- in taste research by another company. The cells are and never have been placed into…

Does a Texas school district mandate teaching kids how to have anal sex? No, that's not true: When the Austin Independent School District's board approved an update of its sex education curriculum on October 29, 2019, it gave every parent the power to opt their children out of any or all of the classes, which did not include any lessons…

Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez push for killing more people to save the planet? No, that's not true: an article about AOC backing a report that calls for various measures to tackle climate change misrepresented the "population control measures" the report actually contained by claiming it included killing people. In reality the report called for measures to reduce fertility. The story originated…

Did Joe Biden call Trump supporters the "dregs of society"? No, that's not true: The former vice president referred to "forces of intolerance" who "remain determined to undermine and roll back the progress" as the "dregs of society" in a speech to the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington, D.C., in September 2018. But Biden said they were "a…

Did Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convert from Christianity to Islam? No, that's not true: the story was put out several years ago by a satirical website as a joke but keeps being circulated on Facebook via various pages and groups even today. The story originated from an article (archived here) on Vatican Enquirer where it was published on August…

Did Arkansas pass a law that allows rapists to prevent their victims who become pregnant from having an abortion? No, that's not true: Arkansas' Act 45 allows family members to sue a doctor who performs a certain type of abortion procedure, but it specifically excludes any lawsuit "if the pregnancy resulted from the criminal conduct of the plaintiff." It gave…

Were Nancy Pelosi's daughters, Pamela, 22, and Loreen, 25 arrested at the Mexican border carrying cocaine and "bloogies"? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need to actually click and read links before sharing or liking them in order to avoid being embarrassed…

Is a woman accused of stealing a pumpkin by hiding it in her vagina? No, this is not true. It is fake news. It is a hoax. In fact, the photo used in this fake story is the mugshot of a woman identified as Amy E. Slaton arrested for shoplifting in Morganfield, Kentucky, on June 21, 2010. You can see…

Did a team of Saudi crime scene investigators conclude that Jamal Khasoggi killed himself in the Istanbul consulate? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian satire website that usually writes about made up bizarre crimes and weird sex acts but sometimes strays into more politically charged humor. The story is not real, it is just…

Did 37-year-old cancer patient Derrick Johnson get beaten up in East Portland after coming out of a chemotherapy session because an Antifa mob mistook him for a neo-nazi? No, that's not true: the story was mde up by a Canadian website that invents tales of bizarre crimes and weird sex acts for entertainment purposes. It did not happen for real.…