YouTube changes ‘misleading’ abortion disclaimer after 16 AGs issue demand letter
YouTube changed the disclaimer attached to some abortion-related videos after a group of 16 Attorney Generals (AG) sent a letter asking the platform to remove misleading information listed there. Naa letterAGs point out that pro-life information has long been suppressed by Alphabet, Inc. — the parent company of sites like Google and YouTube.
“Less than two years ago, more than a dozen states warned Alphabet’s CEO that Google should not discriminate against pro-life pregnancy resource centers in its search results, advertising, and other products. Shortly thereafter, Yelp discriminated against both of these centers by posting a misleading ‘consumer notice’ on the centers’ business pages. Attorneys general from [24] states demanded that Yelp remove the misleading notices,” the letter read. They continued:
Now, YouTube is following that unfortunate trend and has added its own misleading “information panel” to abortion videos. Your notice contains false information about a key issue in a case pending before the US Supreme Court. It also misleads women seeking information about abortion drugs, potentially putting their lives at risk. We request that you immediately remove or correct the notice.
The letter also specifies a video from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), where a woman describes her experience with chemical abortion, or the abortion pill. Attached to the video is the following disclaimer, which is also listed in other videos discussing abortion, such as those posted by Live Action:
“Abortion is a procedure to terminate a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is performed by a licensed healthcare professional.”
This has been criticized as misleading, because — thanks to the FDA’s revised protocols — women are now undergoing chemical abortions themselves, at home, without any medical supervision.
“Chemical abortion is the most common abortion method in the country, and women deserve to know the truth about these high-risk drugs that send, according to the FDA’s own label, about one in 25 women taking them to the emergency room,” the letter continued. “By insisting that chemical abortions are performed by licensed health care professionals, YouTube is lying to our constituents and the rest of the American public. That lie is all the more troubling because it inaccurately describes a fact central to the current Supreme Court case.”
YouTube quickly responded, and according to a ADF press release, the disclaimer has been changed. It now reads:
Abortion is a procedure to terminate a pregnancy. This can be done in two different ways: Medical abortion, which uses drugs to end the pregnancy. Sometimes this is called “medical abortion” or “abortion with pills.” Procedural abortion, a procedure to remove the pregnancy from the uterus. This is sometimes called a “surgical abortion.”
While the disclaimer is still not entirely true — abortion not only ends a “pregnancy,” but intentionally kills a preborn child to do so — ADF Senior Counsel Erik Baptist still applauds the change in a press release for improvement on a previous false claim.
“Women deserve to know the truth about the dangers of abortion drugs, which is why first-hand accounts like those posted by ADF on YouTube are so important,” she said. “Thanks to the leadership of state attorneys general calling out misinformation, YouTube has corrected its previous misleading notice.”
She added, “Because of the FDA’s reckless decision to end the requirement that chemical abortions be performed by a licensed health care professional, women are now generally on their own when taking the drugs, without any direct medical supervision. That’s why YouTube’s disclaimer is completely false and perfectly describes why we’re suing the FDA on behalf of four medical associations, their members, and four doctors. The agency stopped nearly all safety protocols on abortion drugs, which pose a risk to the health and safety of women.”
