Two abortion activists from pro-abortion groups UltraViolet and CREDO have decided they are most qualified to determine who should appear in a Google search.
On May 8th, these activists protested outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, California demanding the company remove crisis pregnancy centers from Google search results for abortion clinics.
The Mercury News reports the pro-abortion groups are making this demand because when anyone searches Google for an abortion clinic or abortion services, crisis pregnancy centers appear in the search results as well as in Google Maps. Not only are these results appearing, they sometimes appear in the top search results. Crisis pregnancy centers are non-profit organizations which attempt to dissuade pregnant women from having abortions.
When Mercury News reached out to Google for comment on the same day as the protest, Google gave them the following statement: “We strive for business results that are relevant, accurate and help users find what they’re looking for. At the same time, we have robust policies in place against misleading and misrepresentative ads. We actively enforce those policies.”
UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas claims in a statement pregnancy centers “lure in” pregnant women in order to manipulate them into choosing their baby over an abortion. So far, Google has not yet caved to the demands of other pro-choice, tyrannical organizations, but that could change with the current environment in California.
In March, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, a lawsuit on behalf of pregnancy centers which do not want to be strong-armed into advertising abortions. The California Reproductive FACT Act requires licensed and covered facilities to give all their clients notice the state “has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services, prenatal care, and abortion, for eligible women.”
The case is still pending decision by the Supreme Court, but if the pregnancy centers do not win, they will be forced to inform women abortion is an option and the State of California will pay for it. This would force pregnancy centers to violate the reason they exist, and it could potentially take away the freedom of other organizations to stand for their own morals and rights of conscience, especially where those beliefs conflict with what others believe to be right.
This is not the only time Google has been told what to do with their company. In 2014 Google was pressured into removing crisis pregnancy center advertisements. The Hill reported Google removed more than two-thirds of ads for crisis pregnancy clinics from its search engine.
Google is again being bullied into thinking it must remove pro-life pregnancy clinics from its search results in order to appeal to the louder and more disrespectful pro-choice organizations. If Google were to cave to the demands of these pro-choice groups, it would not only be against free speech, it would also be against the right to life.
