After the overturning of Roe, Google decided to add labels that distinguish the health facilities that practice abortion are Maps e Search. Just yesterday, the company stated that, where it receives confirmation that the clinic offers the aforementioned service, the label “Practice abortion” will be affixed. Conversely, in the case of structures of which there is no certainty, Google Maps and Search will provide the indication “You may not have an abortion”.
Google Maps and Search: the label for abortion clinics arrives
US lawmakers recently urged Google to correct searches for abortion clinics, as many users received fake addresses when needed. In response the tech giant has introduced some improvements to the way the search engine works view and label the results for certain places in Maps and Search. Therefore, now all the clinics that confirm to practice termination of pregnancy are marked by a specific label. And to make sure that the property really offers the service, Google itself takes care of calling it directly or consulting authoritative sources. Just like it happened for the facilities that administered vaccination for Covid-19.
Credits: Google
“When people turn to Google to find local information, we aim to help them easily explore the range of places available so they can determine which ones are most useful to them,” a Google spokesperson said. For a number of categories where we’ve received confirmation that places offer specific services, we’ve been working for many months on more useful ways to visualize those results. We’re now rolling out an update that makes it easier for people to find places that offer the services they’ve been looking for, or broaden the results to see more options. We’ve followed our standard testing and evaluation process to confirm these updates are more useful for people. “
In this way, the tech giant hopes to solve a somewhat tedious problem regarding the right to abortion. In fact, a recent Bloomberg report found that Google Maps and Search routinely deceive people looking for termination clinics. A figure also confirmed by The Guardian, which stated that Google incorrectly addresses at least 1 search out of 10. Therefore, with the new update the giant hopes to solve this problematic issue. Beyond that, Google also stands simplifying search expansion if not a user has not found what he was looking for nearby. A good option for medical clinics, physiotherapy centers and travel clinics.
This could be yet another useful function for women intending to terminate their pregnancy in a state other than the one in which they live. Ultimately, users could use it to search for a clinic in a state where the right to abortion is still considered legal. But it is clear that the tech giant has not really presented the new function like this.