Yelp Flags Crisis Pregnancy Centers to Help Abortion Seekers
Online reviews service Yelp is starting to flag crisis pregnancy centers in an effort to prevent them from misleading abortion seekers.
The company is placing a notice on reviews for Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Faith-based Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the US. The goal is to inform consumers that these businesses “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite,” the company said in Tuesday’s announcement(Opens in a new window).
“It’s well-reported(Opens in a new window) that crisis pregnancy centers do not offer abortion services, and it’s been shown that many provide misleading information(Opens in a new window) in an attempt to steer people seeking abortion care to other options,” Yelp added. “With this new consumer notice we’re aiming to further protect consumers from the potential of being misled or confused.”
Crisis pregnancy centers, which are usually backed by religious groups, have gained a reputation for trying to stop abortion seekers from carrying out the medical procedure. To do so, the centers allegedly resort to using shady tactics, such as shaming, promoting medical misinformation, and making their offices look like legitimate health clinics, according(Opens in a new window) to abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
The internet can also end up recommending abortion seekers to crisis pregnancy centers. Earlier this month, Bloomberg published(Opens in a new window) an analysis that shows Google Maps can routinely surface crisis pregnancy centers in the top results when people search for local abortion clinics across the US.
Yelp decided to flag the crisis pregnancy centers, citing the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, which has led at least 10 US states to
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