Google Maps Gives Clearly Label For Abortion Clinics In The US To Avoid Confusing Anti-Abortion Clinics

Google Maps will show abortion clicks more clearly. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Google has now made it a policy that they will clearly label medical facilities in the United States that provide abortions in their search results. This is done so that search results on Google Maps can avoid confusion with the anti-abortion center. The policy was announced by Google's top executives to lawmakers on Thursday, August 25.

“When users search for “abortion clinics near me”, the results box will show facilities that are verified to provide abortions,” said Mark Isakowitz, vice president for government affairs and public policy for the US and Canada at Google. This statement was made in a letter to Senator Mark Warner and Representative, Elisa Slotkin.

"The results of this search will also allow people to broaden their search to show other relevant lists, including from organizations that do not provide abortions," Isakowitz said, as quoted by Reuters.

Google's response follows a June 17 letter from Warner and Slotkin urging Alphabet Inc's Chief Executive, Sundar Pichai, to prevent Google search results from misleading abortion clinics from directing users to anti-abortion centers.

About half of US states have or are expected to seek to ban or restrict abortion. The states that refuse abortion include Idaho, Texas, and 11 others. The state has adopted a "trigger" law banning abortions for such decisions.

While the state of California, where Google is headquartered, and several other states, until now still allow abortion for health reasons.