Google Changes On Abortion Ads

Settling out of court in the UK, Google will now allow ads from religious groups about abortion.

When the Christian Institute in the UK wanted to place an anti-abortion ad with Google, it was told that the company did not accept advertising from sites containing "abortion and religion-related content."

But once threatened with British equality laws they had no choice but to give in and settle rather than go to court, so in Britain at least, there will now be ads from religious groups about abortion on Google, alongside those for abortion clinics.

A Google spokesperson told the BBC:

"The issue of abortion is an emotive subject and Google does not take a particular side.

"Over the last few months we have been reviewing our abortion ads policy in order to make sure it was fair, up-to-date and consistent with local customs and practices.

"Following the review we have decided to amend our policy, creating a level playing field and enabling religious associations to place ads on abortion in a factual way."

In response, the Christian Institute heralded the decision as a victory for free speech.