Google Workers Protest Its Abortion Policies; Press For Pro-Abortion Amendments

Over 650 workers at Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL sought abortion benefits to contractors, suspension of donations to anti-abortion politicians, and better user protection from abortion-related disinformation and police requests, Reuters reports.

The Alphabet Workers Union sent the petition to CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday after circulating it among employees.

The workers urged Google to stop collecting data on users seeking information about abortions and to remove search results for crisis pregnancy centers, which it said were misleading to those seeking abortions, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The group sought immediate user data privacy controls for all health-related activity,” like searches related to reproductive issues, and to stop saving any user information linked to abortion services. 

It also called on Google to fix “misleading search results related to abortion services by removing results for fake abortion providers.”

The group urged Alphabet to extend certain reproductive-healthcare benefits to contractors and end lobbying efforts.

They asked Alphabet to create a task force with 50% employee representation for handling abortion-related issues.

Tech companies and location-data brokers came under intensified scrutiny after the Supreme Court ruling in June that overturned Roe v. Wade. Privacy advocates feared prosecution over abortion in states that have outlawed the procedure.

Previously, The Alphabet union urged Google to stop storing any data leading to the prosecution of users in the U.S. exercising their bodily autonomy.

Google agreed to automatically delete data on physical visits to abortion clinics logged by the company’s products and “work on new ways to strengthen and improve these protections over time.”

Recent reports suggested Google Maps routinely misled people looking for abortion providers. Various companies came under the radar for simultaneously supporting the pro and anti-abortion groups.

Price Action: GOOG shares traded higher by 0.76% at $121.24 on the last check Thursday.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons