Google Will Label Health Clinics

Searching “abortion clinics near me” will now let users see which places are confirmed to offer abortion services. If Google doesn’t have confirmation, the label will read “might not provide abortions”. If there aren’t results nearby, it’ll give an option to expand the search to farther away. “When we started working on this project, we knew that it was a complex issue,” said Google. “We also knew that few people had all of the information they needed to make an informed decision about their pregnancy options. We wanted to do what we could to help people understand where they could access care—and how much it might cost.

Credit: BGR

The change comes after the search engine received criticism for its previous labels, which didn’t make it clear whether or not clinics actually performed abortions. Google said it made the update in an effort to be more transparent about where people could go for help if they were having a crisis pregnancy. Google also added a glossary of terms related to the procedure and an explainer on why it’s important for women to be able to access abortion care. Google said it will also show whether a clinic is a Planned Parenthood or Marie Stopes International affiliate. The company said it will update the label if any of the clinics change their services. Google will also now show users “crisis pregnancy centers”, which is a term for places that discourage women from having abortions.

The change comes after Google said it found that its previous policy of labeling these centers as “pregnancy care centers” was problematic. Google has updated its Maps and Search to explicitly label healthcare facilities that provide abortion services. It’s another change made in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end federal protection for abortion.

Google Maps and Search now list and label health clinics that provide abortions. It’s another change made in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision on January 22 to overturn Roe v. Wade and end federal protection for abortion—an event that’s led to an uptick in violence at abortion clinics across the United States.