Google Maps is steering women who want abortions to the wrong places

Crisis pregnancy centers appear to be gaming the system

Google Maps is steering women who want abortions to the wrong places
Stars Insider

14/02/18 | StarsInsider

HEALTH Google

Women seeking abortions may not be able to trust Google Maps to connect them with a clinic that will be able to terminate the pregnancy.

Gizmodo has reported on an issue wherein a Google Maps search for an abortion provider will instead display crisis pregnancy centers, which do not offer abortions. Anti-abortion pregnancy centers will often appear as though they offer abortions in the search results, which is extremely misleading. Crisis pregnancy centers are specifically targeting patients who are planning on ending their pregnancies, so it’s very clever thinking that’s landed these CPCs in Google Maps searches.

There are a number of ways to raise a listing’s rank in the results, and CPCs are using them.They also sometimes categorize themselves as Women’s Health Centers, as do abortion clinics, which can make it impossible to distinguish the two.

Some real abortion clinics are having issues with this, such as Capital Care Network, the last remaining clinic in Western Ohio. According to Kristin Hady, the clinic’s escort coordinator, someone keeps editing the details of their listing to say that the clinic has shut down.

“We often have to go and edit the Google listing that the clinic is open, as well, because it seems they will submit that the clinic has closed for good,” Hady told Gizmodo. “Depending on what browser clients use to view Capital Care and in which devices, they are still sometimes told it is closed for good. It is very confusing and kind of like playing Whack-a-Mole.”

At this time, Google has agreed to look into why the CPCs are being included in abortion search results. Google Communications Manager Liz Davidoff said in a statement, “We strive for business results that are relevant, accurate and help users find what they’re looking for.”

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