Google will label which health clinics provide abortions

Google will begin labeling which health clinics or hospitals offer abortions when users search for reproductive care online or on maps, the California-based company announced this week.

The surge in information the search engine wants to show users comes after lawmakers criticized the company for offering anti-abortion clinics — aka crisis pregnancy centers — when people search for abortion clinics.

When users search Google, a disclosure now appears high up in the results, clearly identifying whether a clinic “provides abortions” or “does not perform abortions,” Google vice president of government affairs Mark Isakowitz said in a reply letter the legislature.

Google is working to improve “the accuracy and relevance” of results when people search for terms like “abortion clinics near me,” the letter added.

“When someone searches for healthcare providers in the United States that offer abortions … the local search results box will show facilities that have been verified to perform abortions. People will be able to broaden their search to see other relevant listings (including non-abortion organizations),” Isakowitz said.

Democratic senators criticized Google over the matter in June.

Just before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) wrote a letter asking Google to highlight whether search results returned abortions .

“Referring women to bogus clinics that trade in misinformation and do not provide comprehensive health services is dangerous to women’s health and undermines the integrity of Google’s search results,” lawmakers wrote in the June 17 letter.