- Crisis Pregnancy Centers often us Google ads to show up in the search results when someone is looking for abortion services. - They typically don’t disclose whether they actually perform abortions. - For example, if I search for “Planned Parenthood”, the top result is an ad for a “pregnancy clinic”. The ad reads: > Thinking About Abortion As An Option? Get The Info You Need To Make An Informed Decision. No Insurance Required. Free Pregnancy Services. Same Day Appointments Available. 100% Confidential. All Services At No Cost. Supportive Atmosphere. - Get information! Don’t need insurance! Same-day *free* appointments?!? If you’re looking to terminate a pregnancy, all of this sounds fantastic. But it’s not very clear is it? Do they or don’t they offer abortion services? - Visiting their homepage is a trip. The first thing you see is, “Making decisions about your health requires you to be fully informed”. And yet… - They also say that there are three things you need to know before making an “abortion decision”: whether you’re pregnant, whether the pregnancy is viable, and whether you are STD free. Although pregnancy tests are obviously necessary and ultrasounds may be required depending on the state, it feels like the purpose here is to run out the clock; no doubt each test takes 24 hours to see results. - There’s also this quote on their STI Testing page, attributed to C. Everett Koop, former US Surgeon General: > When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years. - …Which just feels comically judgmental, even though I understand the point being conveyed. Interestingly, when you search for this quote, the vast, *vast* majority of results are similar CPCs. - Anyway, this clinic actually *does* indicate on their homepage that they don’t perform abortion, it’s just in teeny-tiny text at the bottom of the page; I only found it with CTRL+F, which, you know, a pregnant woman in distress isn’t likely to try. - They *do*, however, provide “abortion pill reversal”, which the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists calls [“unproven and unethical”]([Medication Abortion "Reversal" Is Not Supported by Science | ACOG](https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/medication-abortion-reversal-is-not-supported-by-science)). - What’s also interesting is that, although this particular ad doesn’t include a disclaimer per Google policy, searching for “abortion near me” shows an ad for the same clinic with a badge that says, “Does not provide abortions”. - [[2024-09-28 hurricane helene]] When I drafted this note, I got pretty caught up in this particular clinic. The point is that **they are paying to be one of the first results when someone searches for a medical service that they do not provide**. This is [[{3.1c} fraud in google search engine results pages]].