Google Maps and Google Search will now better identify health clinics that provide abortions by showing clear labels when displaying search results. This update to Maps and Search follows the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which terminated federal protections for abortion rights. After which, legislators urged Google to provide better results for abortion searches in its offerings. Reports showed that Google Search and Maps might direct people to fake clinics and crisis pregnancy centres that do not offer safe abortions.
Google will now show a ‘Provides abortions’ label for healthcare facilities where abortion services have been verified. Moreover, Google will make it easier for people to expand their Google Maps searches for nearby abortion clinics. Users can ‘search farther away’ if Maps or Search can not find any results nearby.
“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 are most helpful to them,” a Google spokesperson said. “For several categories where we’ve received confirmation that places offer specific services, we’ve been working for many months on more useful ways to display those results. We’re now rolling out an update that makes it easier for people to find places that offer the services they’ve searched for or broaden their results to see more options.”
