Seventeen Republican attorneys general on Thursday sent a letter to Google, demanding the tech giant not limit search results for pro-life pregnancy centers amid pressure from Democratic lawmakers.
It’s the latest conflict after the Supreme Court rejected the national right to abortion and sent the issue back to the states last month.
In a five-page letter, the group says limiting search results would run afoul of state and federal laws, censoring pro-life web results while bolstering abortion services.
“Google’s search results must not be subject to left-wing political pressure, which would actively harm women seeking essential assistance,” the attorneys general wrote.
The move comes after Democratic lawmakers wrote to Google last month complaining that pro-life crisis pregnancy centers come up when “abortion services” are searched on the internet.
The Democrats, in their complaint, told Google to take action and ensure pro-life pregnancy centers did not populate when abortion services were desired by users of its search engine.
But the GOP attorneys general warned the tech giant that kowtowing to the Democrats would discriminate against the religious viewpoints of pro-life centers and advocates. They also said it could violate antitrust laws.
“As the chief legal officers of our respective States, we the undersigned Attorneys General are extremely troubled by this gallingly un-American political pressure. We wish to make this very clear to Google and the other market participants that it dwarfs: If you fail to resist this political pressure, we will act swiftly to protect American consumers from this dangerous axis of corporate and government power,” they wrote.
Pro-life crisis pregnancy centers have delivered $266 million in services to more than 1.8 million patients — usually free or at low cost, according to a 2020 study cited by the Republicans.
Following the Supreme Court’s move last month to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that gave women a national right to abortion, crisis pregnancy centers across the country have faced an onslaught of assaults, threats and vandalism.
Google has not responded to a request for comment.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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