Activists Complain Pregnancy Centers Do Better Reaching Women on Google Than Abortion Clinics

National   |   Indya Rennie   |   Feb 16, 2018   |   3:35PM   |   Washington, DC

Abortion advocates are alarmed at the range of choices that Google searches display for women seeking abortions.

Robin Marty, writing for Gizmodo.com, reported Feb. 12 that a Google search for nearby abortion clinics yields results for mostly pro-life pregnancy help centers.

Initially, pregnancy centers bought ads on Google to have their results appear first when pregnant women are searching for options, Marty reported. However, when NARAL Pro-Choice America complained, Google removed the ads.

But pregnancy centers continued to be included in Google searches for abortion clinics.

The Christian Post summarized: “Marty goes on to explain that Google uses a complex and proprietary algorithm drawing from a variety of factors to yield top search results. Pregnancy centers and abortion businesses compete on a level playing field where anyone can purchase an ad, build search-engine optimization (SEO) and more.”

If the Google playing field is level, what gives pregnancy centers their advantage?

Marty explained: “The [Google] Maps section offers a simple way to sort through all of the information—how far away a clinic is, when it is open, and how highly it is rated by others who have used it—all in one easy glance.”

As far as distance goes, it makes sense that a person is more likely to be near a pregnancy center than an abortion clinic, considering that in the United States, there are 2,750 pregnancy centers, according to the Christian Post, and only 704 abortion facilities, according to LifeNews.

Furthermore, abortion clinics are closing in record numbers. LifeNews reported that 49 abortion clinics either closed or halted their services in 2017.

Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com

Gizmodo.com also pointed out the higher ratings of pregnancy help centers. The report seems to imply manipulation, but perhaps the ratings accurately reflect the 99 percent satisfaction rate that pregnancy centers have.

Not so with Planned Parenthood. The Christian Post reported: “A quick web search reveals first-hand accounts of Planned Parenthood’s atrocious conditions, its medical privacy violations and its repeated failure to report sex traffickers and forced abortions.”

The abortion industry attacked; comedienne Lizz Winstead encouraged her followers to post false negative reviews about the pregnancy help centers during the summer and fall of 2017. However, Google recognized those postings as false and removed them from the site in January.

In general, more women are turning to life-affirming options for their unborn babies; 30,000 more women have sought help from a pro-life hotline than have terminated their pregnancies, the Christian Post reported.

The report also noted, “The reality of women rejecting abortion plays out every day on the ground as well, when a woman like Angie Stillwell literally runs out of an abortion mill after being tricked into going inside in the first place.”

Nonetheless, Marty and others continue to complain about the results of this Google battle, and denounce the victorious pro-life facilities by claiming “staff pressures clients to ‘choose life’…”.