American society has been awaiting the judges’ official decision since the Politico news site accessed a document in early May that pointed out that the US Supreme Court should repeal the country’s abortion rights.
While the discovery of the decision didn’t have an immediate impact on access to abortion, in recent years 13 states have passed so-called “trigger laws”—against the right to terminate a pregnancy, Roe v. Wade, who legalized abortion under certain conditions in the country in the 1970s.
Against this background, a new study by the Center for Combating Digital Hate (CCDH) has found that Google search results direct American women seeking abortion services to “fake clinics” associated with pro-life organizations known as “pregnancy centres.” centers” (CPCs) or “pregnancy resource centres”.
1 in 10 women seeking an abortion in the US see pro-life results
CCDH researchers used the Google Chrome extension “Location Guard” to search for the terms “abortion clinic near me” and “abortion pill” in each of the 13 states with “trigger laws.”
They then analyzed the first page of results for each search term, which included sponsored, organic, and results appearing on the first pages of the Maps, News, and Videos tabs.
This finding was heartbreaking for women in the US seeking reliable abortion information: 51 (11.46%) out of a total of 445 recorded results, or one in 10, referred users to fake anti-abortion clinics, CPCs.
According to the CCDH, these sites are often affiliated with national anti-abortion organizations and have a history of spreading misinformation about the health risks of terminating a pregnancy.
Typically, CPCs are nonprofit organizations set up to advise pregnant women not to have abortions and have been criticized by pro-choice experts for spreading misleading practices and false medical advice.
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In practice, when a woman seeking an abortion contacts these centers, she is dissuaded from having an abortion by presenting exaggerated data on what the procedure means.
According to a study by the Alliance, a coalition of government advocates for women’s rights and gender equality, the number of CPCs now exceeds 3-to-1 actual abortion clinics, with nearly 2,600 operating in the United States.
The researchers’ findings were particularly troubling on Google Maps, with 37% (26 out of 70) of results making pro-life centers look like real abortion clinics.
Google gives visibility to sponsored anti-abortion content in the US
The CCDH study also found that approximately 28% of Google ads displayed at the top of search results pages came from fake anti-abortion clinics.
One such ad was for Cline Centers, which appeared to offer free abortion counseling, but upon closer inspection by the website’s researchers, it was revealed that the clinic did not perform termination procedures or provide referrals.
This was confirmed by a Google review that claimed the “fake clinic” “doesn’t provide medical care” and “exaggerates” the risks of abortion.
According to the researchers, the search engine labels anti-abortion ads with a “” disclaimer.[Esse local/serviço] does not provide abortion”.
Despite this, some sponsored content appeared as the first result of searches for abortion services.
The survey found that some users seeking abortions ignored these Google disclaimers and contacted fake clinics in hopes of obtaining abortion services.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, stated that Google must ensure access to responsible and quality public health information:
“When people search for information or services related to their sexual and reproductive health, Google sends them to sites that users might expect to contain reliable, scientific, evidence-based health information, but actually contain ideological views and misinformation.
“If Google refuses to guarantee users’ right to good information, it will be up to legislators to take action to ensure that people are not harmed by Google’s negligence and greed.”
According to Erin Matson, co-founder and managing director of the NGO Reproaction, fake anti-abortion clinics are the “conversion therapy wing” of the US anti-abortion movement.
“Misleading online advertisements for abortion seekers are not a new concern, but will become more urgent as constitutional protections for the procedure fade.”
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source: Noticias
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