Business & Tech

Apple's Siri Can't Find Abortion Clinics

The iPhone 4S virtual personal assistant has pro-choice and pro-life advocates swirling around Siri's inability to provide information about contraception and abortion care.

Siri—Apple's iPhone 4S virtual personal assistant—accused of leaning pro-choice and providing misleading and incomplete information regarding women's reproductive health and rights, is a work in progress say Siri's masters at Apple.

According to reports, such as a Time article, when Siri is asked "Where can I get an abortion?" the voice-activated virtual assistant returns responses that either say she can't find any abortion clinics or in some cases finds only pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, otherwise known for helping women see through a pregnancy.

In a demonstration by WUSA reporter Ken Molestina, Siri was unable to locate the Planned Parenthood office he was standing in front of when he spoke the words "abortion clinic" into the phone to Siri.

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"Siri can help you secure movie tickets, plan your schedule, and order Chinese food, but when it comes to reproductive health care and services, Siri is clueless," wrote the American Civil Liberties Union on its Blog of Rights Wednesday.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America wrote a letter to Tim Cook, Apple CEO, expressing her concerns about Siri's inaccurate or incomplete answers to women. She got a response from Cook, or at least it's signed "Best Regards, Tim." It's the same response every media report is quoting from Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris: "Our customers use Siri to find out all types of information and while it can find a lot, it doesn't always find what you want. These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone, it simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better and we will in the coming weeks."

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A petition from Change.org, "Siri, why won't you help me find family planning services", that is circulating now says: "If Siri is providing information for users who require medical attention--like an erection lasting more than four hours, like chest pain, like labor, then she should certainly provide accurate information about family planning services including contraception and abortion care."

Siri is being applauded by some though, such as Brandi Swindell, founder and president of Stanton Healthcare who was quoted on ChristianNewsWire: "We applaud Apple iPhone's 4S Siri and are thrilled that Siri does not list or refer to abortion clinics. Numerous lives will be saved as a direct result. Siri is setting the standard for all organizations--no one should ever refer anyone to get an abortion."


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