Would a North Carolina bill permit people to "murder women for using birth control"? Truth-O-Meter unavailable for comment

 Do Democrats ever make false claims?

If we judge by PolitiFact, falsehoods from Democrats have nearly been eliminated. The last "Pants on Fire" rating for a Democrat was from the summer of 2024. So far in 2026, only one claim from a Democrat has received a rating below "Mostly False."

In reality, however, Democrats likely lie about the same rate these days that they did in 2012, when PolitiFact recorded 135 falsehoods, combining the 109 "False" ratings with the 26 "Pants on Fire" ratings.

A big part of that drop in volume stems from the extinction of many of PolitiFact's state franchises, especially PolitiFact Wisconsin. And Meta's decision to end its partnerships with fact-checking organizations surely affects the number of fact checks published. But at the same time, PolitiFact has apparently just lost interest in issuing harsh ratings for Democrats.

One of the very few remaining franchises, PolitiFact North Carolina, provides our example.

A North Carolina Republican sponsored a bill that would declare life begins at conception. PolitiFact Carolina published an article--not a "Truth-O-Meter" fact check--mentioning a number of claims made about the bill.

That's where selection bias comes in.

When a number of Republicans weigh in on a subject, PolitiFact routinely picks the most extreme statement and publishes a harsh Truth-O-Meter rating.

The PolitiFact North Carolina story has an excellent candidate for a false (or worse?) rating:

The article takes up the issue of murdering birth control users in its latter half. PolitiFact itself passes no judgment on the "murder" claim. Instead, the story explains terms and leaves the judgment up to one of its cited experts:

Hamilton said in her video that the bill would allow people to "murder women for using birth control." Tracy Weitz, professor at American University and senior fellow with the Women's Initiative at American Progress, referred to that claim as "extreme" and "hyperbolic."

PolitiFact North Carolina quote Weitz again a few paragraphs later:

"Yes, contraception works to prevent pregnancy as currently defined," Weitz said. "However, some extreme religious perspectives define contraception as abortion using a religious not medical definition." Still, the allegation that the bill would allow people to murder someone for using birth control is "very farfetched," she said. 

"As a scientist, I try to avoid these kind of extreme hyperbolic statements," Weitz said.

Weitz almost makes the claim sound like it's earned a "Pants on Fire" rating.

Jen Hamilton, on whose claim PolitiFact North Carolina focused, holds no office and so would not count as a politician in our tracking of Democrat falsehoods. But Sophia Chitlik would:

"This session, we've seen legislation in the General Assembly that would allow people to murder women if they prevent fertilization," Chitlik said.

There's a potential harsh rating for a Democrat, just short of the PolitiFact North Carolina finish line.

Chitlik has no "Truth-O-Meter" ratings as we write this.