Google to label Search, Map listings for abortion clinics

Google abortion clinics labeling overview: 

• Who: Google executive Mark Isakowitz wrote a letter addressed to Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Elissa Slotkin in response to their concerns over its search engine and Google Maps results for abortion services searches. 
• Why: Isakowitz reassured the lawmakers that Google is actively working to make sure abortion clinics are clearly labeled so as to not be confused with anti-abortion centers. 
• Where: The Google abortion clinics labeling will occur nationwide.

Google reassured lawmakers that it will clearly label medical facilities that provide abortions in the United States on Google Maps and in its search results. 

A top executive at Google wrote in a letter addressed to lawmakers last week that the company is actively working to ensure individuals don’t confuse abortion-providing clinics with anti-abortion centers. 

“We continue to update our Local Search services for local health-related queries, including those related to abortion services, to improve the accuracy and relevance,” says Mark Isakowitz, vice president for government affairs and public policy for U.S. and Canada at Google. 

A Google user who searches for “abortion clinics near me” will see results that only include facilities that are verified as abortion clincs, the Google letter says. 

Lawmakers previously urged Alphabet CEO to help prevent confusion between abortion clinics, anti-abortion centers

Isakowitz wrote Google’s letter in response to a June letter by Slotkin and Warner that urged Google’s parent company Alphabet’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, to ensure individuals weren’t incorrectly directed to anti-abortion centers, Reuters reports.

“We always welcome opportunities to consider feedback — including from the Center for Countering Digital Hate — and improve the ways we provide reliable, trustworthy, and authoritative information to users,” Isakowitz writes in the letter. 

The need to ensure individuals don’t confuse abortion clinics with anti-abortion centers has risen since the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Around half of the states in the United States are now expected to either ban abortion or attempt to limit it following the reversal of Roe v. Wade with 13 states having measures in place readying to ban abortion in the event it ever was, Reuters reports. 

Google announced last month that it would delete any location data stemming from visits to either abortion clinics or other health providers in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade.  

Also last month, the Federal Trade Commission announced its intention to crack down on any individuals who are caught unlawfully sharing sensitive location and health data following Roe v. Wade getting overturned. 

What do you think of the Google abortion clinics labeling? Let us know in the comments! 

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