Reproductive Health

Do COVID-19 vaccines for children fail risk/benefit analysis, permanently damaging children's brains and reproductive systems to prevent a harmless infection? No, that's not true: The claim is made without scientific evidence to support it and in the face of data showing some children are killed and seriously sickened by COVID. Meanwhile, the consensus of published, peer-reviewed and field tested expert…

Have genetic engineers genetically modified food that intentionally will cause black people to become infertile? No, that's not true: According to an FDA spokesperson, "there is no scientific data" backing up this claim. The spokesperson also told Lead Stories that if the Food and Drug Administration had found someone doing this, it would be in violation of the Federal Food,…

Did a Democratic Pennsylvania state representative create a bill that enforces reproductive responsibility for men by requiring vasectomies for some "inseminators" and by offering a $10,000 reward for reporting "scofflaws" who don't submit? Yes, that's true, but an October 2, 2021, memorandum of co-sponsorship sent out by Democratic state Rep. Chris Rabb was extravagantly written, tipping off readers his was…

Are women fertile for roughly 24 days a year? No, that's misleading: The fertility window for women is approximately four to seven days a month, totaling 48 to 84 days a year, according to medical experts. Ovulation is usually one to two days a month, which is roughly 24 days but that is not the only time a woman is…

Does a University of Miami study confirm that COVID-19 vaccines will affect men's production of sperm? No, that's not true: The Miami study looked at sperm counts of men infected and killed by COVID, not those of vaccinated men. The Instagram post also claims vaccines can suppress sperm counts "either by injection or transmission," an illogical expansion of the study's…

Has Pfizer instructed male COVID-19 vaccine recipients to refrain from donating sperm, to wear condoms and/or be abstinent for at least 28 days after getting a shot? No, that's not true: A screenshot used as the basis of the claim was taken from a lengthy protocol that was designed at the start of a clinical trial, approved on April 17,…

Would a proposed Florida bill make a transgender student athlete "drop her pants" to prove she's a girl before playing on a Florida school sports team? No, that's not true. Both versions of the bill in Florida (a state House bill and a state Senate version) provide for either genetic testing or testing of a child's endogenously produced testosterone levels…

Is tilapia boneless, bad for you and can't be overcooked? No, that's not true: This meme has several false and misleading statements, though some of its original language has been toned down. The original version surfaced on Facebook in March 2017. This post, published April 5, 2020 (archived here), is captioned: Why I never buy Tilapia. This is what the…

Is the Gates Foundation a multinational corporation that profits from vaccines as part of a U.S. government plot hatched in the 1970s to depopulate developing countries? No, that's not true: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a registered nonprofit that doesn't pay dividends or capital gains to shareholders. The video cites a declassified 1974 document as proof of the…

Did a New Mexico House of Representatives committee recently pass a bill that would "legalize killing babies in abortions up to birth"? No, that's not true: A bill that would repeal a 1969 law banning abortion was passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee of the New Mexico House on January 27, 2021. House Bill 7, the piece…