Jill Stanek asked an interesting question over the weekend.
Why Is Abortion Googled More in Pro-Life States?
This question comes from a Boston Herald article that reports on a recent study that found that “abortion” was Googled more frequently in states with conservative abortion policies than in states with easier access to abortion.
The problem is that the doctors who conducted the study were not content to simply report facts. They needed a reason. And without one they could prove, they opted for conjecture. Conjecture that supports their pro-legalized-abortion agenda, of course.
“In places where abortion access is readily available, people can go to their mainstream health care providers,” Reis suggested. In areas with more abortion searches, he said, “people may be going on the Internet to find alternate routes.”
He said the pattern was found in every state and country studied.
“We were actually very surprised. There is a very consistent, strong relationship,” Reis said.
Of course! People in pro-life states are researching abortion online so that they can figure out how to perform one on themselves! That’s the most logical explanation.
Or maybe not.
Maybe … as commenters on Jill Stanek’s post are quick to point out, people research “abortion” as a means of keeping up with important news, learning about our nation’s laws, or educating themselves about fetal development.
In my Google account, I have a news page set to the keyword “abortion.” And it’s not because I am desperately trying to figure out how I can get myself one.
To me, this “study” and the doctor’s conjecture sound desperate. They need to keep coming up with ways to frighten people into believing we are a hair’s-breadth away from coat hangers and back alley abortions in which innocent pregnant women imperil their own lives in their determination to destroy their unborn children.
Come on. Give us more credit than that.
(cross-posted at the National Catholic Register)
Such things irk me to no end. I’ll be charitable and say that perhaps the reporter asked for some possibilities and then chose the one (s)he liked.
I fulfilled all classwork for an MA in Criminal Justice with a focus on research methods and stats. Correlation means nothing on its own, but many people will either not know this or will forget this when reading the article. Such reporting gets under my skin! This article is nothing but propaganda.
For all we know, the doctor suggested that pro-lifers were keeping tabs and the reporter or editor ignored or removed that statement.
I know when I Google “movie times” it’s usually for research purposes, not because I want to see when a movie I want to see is playing.
Why Is Abortion Googled More in Pro-Life States?
Why is Google tracking where searches are coming from??? And how do they know which state I’m in???
[...] the original post: Why Would You Google ‘Abortion’? Tagged with: abortion-access • abortion-online • boston • boston-herald • [...]
It seems pretty likely to me that at least some of the people googling “abortion” are looking for an abortion provider and such people are more likely to turn to google in places where providers are harder to come by.
But without a survey of abortion googlers, it is impossible to know what percentage (if any) of the increase is the result of such motivations.
And even with a survey, I don’t see the relevance to the issue of whether abortion should be legal.
Stats like that always make me laugh. I am a young woman with two kids already, low income, living in an urban area and when I google “abortion”… it is to look for news on abortion, eugenics, etc. Even if these researchers knew exactly who was searching, they’d still assume the wrong thing in most instances. Thanks for the post.
The Anchoress: People in pro-life states are researching abortion online so that they can figure out how to perform one on themselves! That’s the most logical explanation.
In fact, it is “consistent with published evidence that local restrictions lead individuals to seek abortion services outside their area.” In other words, it confirms a prediction from other studies.
The Anchoress: Maybe … as commenters on Jill Stanek’s post are quick to point out, people research “abortion” as a means of keeping up with important news, learning about our nation’s laws, or educating themselves about fetal development.
That doesn’t explain the correlation. People in less restrictive areas are also presumably interested in news, learning about laws, and educating themselves.
Bender: Why is Google tracking where searches are coming from??? And how do they know which state I’m in???
Google knows all. (The data is aggregated over long periods to address privacy concerns.)
Maybe it’s because the relatively fewer people procuring abortions in red states have to search for a clinic, but those in blue states know that the nearest Planned Parenthood is next to Starbucks?
I’ve been known to google abortion when I’m looking for news or blog posts relating to a current issue. Or just to figure out where I left a reply on a blog somewhere- so at least one of those redstate Christian googlers is my own very pro-life self, here in Kentucky.
Were people in free states in the old days more curious about slavery than those who lived with it?
Perhaps they needed slaves.