---
title: "Google Is Still Misleading People Trying to Find Abortion Clinics"
description: "In areas where access to abortion is limited, Google Maps sometimes directs people looking for clinics to anti-abortion facilities instead."
date: "2019-09-06"
modified: "2019-09-06"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-misleading-abortion-clinics"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Google"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "abortion"
  - "Google"
  - "reproductive rights"
  - "the digest"
---

# Google Is Still Misleading People Trying to Find Abortion Clinics

![In areas where access to abortion is limited, Google Maps sometimes directs people looking for clinics to anti-abortion facilities instead.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/google-misleading-abortion-clinics.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Google/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Bad Directions

Tell Google Maps to point you toward an abortion clinic in North Dakota, and you might find yourself being directed to the doorsteps of anti-abortion groups like North Dakota Right to Life.

This sort of misleading Google Maps result is common in regions where access to abortion is [under attack](<https://futurism.com/gatekeepers-future-reproductive-technology>) or otherwise limited, [according to a *Vice News* investigation](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywap9b/google-maps-is-still-directing-women-seeking-abortions-to-pro-life-clinics-and-a-memorial-for-the-unborn>). That this misleading information is propagated by Google presents a troubling sign for the future of healthcare as reproductive rights continue to [come under fire](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90350385/this-map-shows-abortion-bans-by-u-s-state-in-2019>).

## User Submissions

When a clinic registers with Google, it makes a selection from a list of categories like "women's health clinic." *Vice* found that Google confirms physical addresses by sending postcards, but confirming those selected categories isn't as straightforward.

The problem is especially complicated by the fact that abortion clinics and anti-abortion medical centers often choose the same categories as each other.

## Balancing Act

*Vice News* found misleading results in 21 of the 55 areas that it investigated.

Verifying an abortion clinic supposedly requires extra authentication steps. But incorrect labels slip through all the same, and a Google spokesperson confirmed that Google knew about the problem and told *Vice* that tightening up automated filters could keep actual abortion clinics from showing up.

"Google needs to play a role in ensuring that people are getting factual information about the services in their community," Anna Bean of the Abortion Access Front told *Vice*.

**READ MORE:** [Google Maps Is Still Directing Women Seeking Abortions to Pro-Life Clinics — and a Memorial for the ‘Unborn’](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywap9b/google-maps-is-still-directing-women-seeking-abortions-to-pro-life-clinics-and-a-memorial-for-the-unborn>) \[*Vice News*\]

**More on reproductive rights:** *[Advanced Reproductive Technology is Here. But Who Decides Who Gets Access?](<https://futurism.com/gatekeepers-future-reproductive-technology>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)