YouTube has been put on notice after placing labels on videos against abortion and downplaying the dangers of such medical procedures ahead of a Supreme Court case on abortion pills.
On Monday, 16 state attorneys general demanded that YouTube cease “misleading” banners placed on pro-life videos, including from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “It must stop,” they warned in a letter addressed to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, effectively calling out YouTube’s bias.
“Your bias against pro-life and pro-woman messages is un-American; inconsistent with the liberties protected by the First Amendment; and, in this case, illegal,” the group of attorneys general led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.
The attorneys general warned that YouTube-placed banners aimed at thwarting pro-life videos are not covered by Section 230, opening the door for imminent lawsuits. “We also note that, by editing and posting the false warning label itself, YouTube has no immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act,” they wrote.
First reported by The Daily Signal, the letter came after YouTube targeted a video by legal advocacy group ADF. The pro-life legal advocacy group featured the harrowing story of Elizabeth Gillette—an activist and author who faced complications after undergoing a medical abortion without medical supervision.
“The pain was so severe and I was so scared and I was bleeding so heavily I thought I was going to die,” a visibly emotional Gillette said in the minute-long YouTube clip. “There’s nothing like completely abandoned in the greatest moment of need. I didn’t have a nurse, I didn’t have a doctor.”
In response to the video, YouTube placed a “context” banner under the video to define abortion. The context banner linked to the U.S. government National Library of Medicine website and peddled the demonstrably false claim: “The procedure is done by a licensed healthcare professional.”
YouTube’s claim is detached from reality as the Food Drug Administration notoriously relaxed in 2016 the decades-long requirement that medical professionals perform medical abortions. Under the new procedure, women may receive abortion pills via virtual appointments and even by mail.
This move ignited a legal battle that has made its way to the Supreme Court, with the justices scheduled to hear the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case on March 26. The 16 attorneys general suggested that YouTube’s false claim is at odds with the facts in the case.
“Your notice contains false information about a central issue in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court,” the state prosecutors wrote. “It also misleads women seeking information about abortion drugs, potentially endangering their lives. We demand that you remove or correct the notice immediately.”
The attorneys general added: “The last sentence of the notice is both false and misleading. It suggests that chemical abortions are performed by trained professionals. They are not. Although surgical abortions are still typically ‘done by a licensed healthcare professional,’ under current FDA protocols chemical abortions are ‘done by’ pregnant women themselves.”
The attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming also signed the letter.
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