Google made a sudden reversal this week on ads promoting choice to women considering abortion. Lila Rose, president of pro-life group Live Action, revealed on Tuesday that Google had abruptly shut down its ads promoting Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) — a treatment that offers a chance to halt a chemical abortion if a woman has second thoughts about her decision.

View Comments (4)

A Google spokesperson defended its ban, citing “unproven medical claims,” and told FOX Business, “Beyond protecting users from medical harm, our policies do not distinguish between promoting pro-choice and pro-life messages.”

However, Rose said on Twitter that her group’s ads had been approved by Google and allowed to run for months — bringing in more than $170,000 to Google and directing hundreds of women to an APR hotline. Those ads came to a halt suddenly, curiously at the same time that representatives of the search giant were confronted by abortion advocates. Rose noted that the progressive Daily Beast indicated it spurred Google to action by showing it an anti-APR report — Rose called it a “hit piece.”

“Abortion activists knew the ads were making a difference, so they had Google shut them down,” Rose tweeted.

Chemical abortion — abortion advocates prefer the terms “medication abortion” or “abortion pill” — has grown in popularity over the last two decades. The Guttmacher Institute, an offshoot of Planned Parenthood, states these abortions have grown from 5 percent of total abortions in 2001 to 39 percent in 2017. Essentially, chemical abortion uses a 2 substance regimen — mifepristone followed by misoprostol. The first interfere’s with a woman’s progesterone hormone to halt fetal growth. The second completes the termination of the prenatal child.

What Planned Parenthood and its allies don’t like is that women may have second thoughts after taking the first pill. But a number do, as evidenced by the interest in the APR hotline. In an extensive article on the chemical abortion reversal process, Alexandra DeSanctis of National Review recounted how one woman googled “Can I reverse my abortion?” and got connected to an APR professional. And thousands more have been similarly served.

DeSanctis wrote, “The mechanism of abortion-pill reversal is simple and scientifically sound.” Essentially, it is a regimen of progesterone to compete with the abortion-aimed mifepristone to save the unborn child.

In the National Review piece, Dr. Christina Francis, chairman of the board of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), said APR is “consistent with basic chemistry.”

Francis also supports legislation to make sure women know about APR options. She spoke out in favor of the Second Chance at Life Act, a bill authored by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), requiring women to be informed at least 24 hours before the first chemical abortion drug is given that the process may be reversible. Francis said:

As a professional medical organization representing women’s healthcare providers, we support fully informed consent for all women, including women choosing to undergo medication abortion. Women frequently make the decision to have an abortion under pressure – whether it be from circumstances or another person – and often after beginning the process, regret doing so. Abortion pill rescue provides an opportunity for these women to exercise the choice of trying to save their unborn child, and women deserve to know that this option exists and is highly effective.

Following Google’s dramatic jerk against Live Action’s APR ads, Lamborn called again for action on this pro-life legislation.

Meanwhile, in the Senate at least one legislator wants to take a closer look at Google itself. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Google on Wednesday demanding answers after the experience of Live Action and other pro-life groups. He told Google that it “appears to have taken a page out of the progressive left playbook and has started targeting pregnancy resource centers and pro-life activist organizations for disfavor.”

Will you pray today for life and the light of truth to prevail in this battle? Share in the comments below!

Aaron Mercer is a Contributing Writer with two decades of experience in Washington, D.C.’s public policy arena.