RICHMOND, Va. (AP) 鈥� A month after some members of Congress urged Google to limit the appearance of in certain abortion-related search results, 17 Republican attorneys general are warning the company that doing so could invite investigations and possible legal action.
鈥淪uppressing pro-life and pro-mother voices at the urging of government officials would violate the most fundamental tenet of the American marketplace of ideas,鈥� the attorneys general wrote in a letter Thursday to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company.
The effort was led by Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and the letter was shared with The Associated Press ahead of its public release.
The Republicans took issue with a June 17 letter to the company from U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, which was co-signed by 19 other members of Congress.
That letter cited research by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that Google searches for 鈥渁bortion clinic near me鈥� and 鈥渁bortion pill鈥� turned up results for centers that counsel clients against having an abortion.
Some of these places, known as crisis pregnancy centers, also have been accused of providing misleading information about abortion and contraception. Many are religiously affiliated.
鈥淒irecting women towards fake clinics that traffic in misinformation and don鈥檛 provide comprehensive health services is dangerous to women鈥檚 health and undermines the integrity of Google鈥檚 search results,鈥� said the June letter, which was authored of a draft opinion indicating the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The court June 24.
The Democrat-led group asked Google to address what steps it would take to limit the appearance of 鈥渃risis pregnancy centers鈥� in its search results, ads and maps results for users who search for 鈥渁bortion clinic," 鈥渁bortion pill鈥� or other similar terms.
The group also asked the company if it would add disclaimers to address whether or not a clinic provides abortions. New York Attorney General Letitia James' office also raised similar concerns in to Google.
The letter from the Republican AGs defends the work of It notes that such centers often provide services such as free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and parenting and prenatal education classes. It also argues that 鈥渁t least some鈥� Google users who search for information about abortion expect to find information about alternatives.
They wrote that if the company complies with 鈥渢his inappropriate demand鈥� to 鈥渂ias鈥� its search results, their offices would respond by investigating whether there had been any violation of antitrust or religious discrimination laws. They also pledged to consider whether new legislation would help 鈥減rotect consumers and markets.鈥�
鈥淲e trust that you will treat this letter with the seriousness these issues require, and hope you will decide that Google鈥檚 search results must not be subject to left-wing political pressure, which would actively harm women seeking essential assistance. If you do not, we must avail ourselves of all lawful and appropriate means of protecting the rights of our constituents, of upholding viewpoint diversity, free expression, and the freedom of religion for all Americans, and of making sure that our markets are free in fact, not merely in theory,鈥� the letter said.
It asked the California-based company to respond within 14 days and explain whether it has or will take any steps to treat crisis pregnancy centers any differently than before the leak of the draft Supreme Court decision.
Google did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
A spokeswoman for Warner said the senator had not received a response to the June letter. But Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said his organization believes Google recently made a small change in response to its research.
In cases of searches for 鈥渁bortion clinic near me,鈥� the company appears to have changed a maps results headline to say 鈥淧laces鈥� instead of 鈥淎bortion clinic," according to the center, which monitors online disinformation and provided its research and screenshots of examples to AP.
Miyares, who defeated incumbent Democrat Mark Herring in November, recently traveled to a Lynchburg crisis pregnancy center that was vandalized after the Supreme Court's ruling, condemning what he called an act of 鈥減olitical violence.鈥�
Google and other Big Tech companies also have faced recent calls for more stringent privacy controls to address that information about location, texts, searches and emails could be used against people seeking to end unwanted pregnancies.
Google this month that it would automatically purge information about users who visit abortion clinics or other places that could trigger legal problems in light of the high court's ruling.
Sarah Rankin, The Associated Press
