First Online Directory of
Abortion Clinics Marks 25 Years
First Client Was Dr. George Tiller, Murdered in 1995
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (RP News) - 10/5/2020 - Abortion Clinics Online recently celebrated its 25th year of continuous service. The future of abortion access, however, remains perennially mired in uncertainty, a spokesperson for the clinic said, now more than ever in the wake of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the likelihood of a replacement that is far more extreme.
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| A chart from statista showing a declining rate. |
Through an online directory and hotline, Abortion Clinics Online directs women to reputable abortion clinics, as well as fights back against what are known as fake clinics. The site first went live in September 1995, when the internet was new and only an estimated 14 percent of Americans had an internet connection. Even Planned Parenthood did not have a website at the time.
"Before the Internet, women had barriers to locating an abortion clinic nearby. The internet opened new avenues for women to get good and accurate information about abortion services nearby," founder Ann Rose states.
One of Rose's first clients in 1995 was the now-legendary Dr. George Tiller, who was assassinated in 2009 during a morning church service in Wichita, Kansas by anti-abortion extremist Scott Philip Roeder of Kansas. Roeder was sentenced in 2010 to life imprisonment without any chance of parole for 50 years.
As stated in the news release: “The online presence of abortion clinics has since grown into a powerful force. Clinics have nurtured a new generation of activists through social media and blogs. Most abortion-seekers now begin searching for a clinic online, and several abortion directories have followed, providing alternative models. Abortion advocates have always occupied a dangerous world. Clinics have been bombed or burned. Clinic workers routinely face threats and violence. Rose has been the subject of smear campaigns and threats for her entire career. At a time when choice is under attack, keeping abortion legal is not enough. Women must have ready access to safe, quality abortion clinics.”
One of the biggest challenges today, a spokesperson said, are fake abortion clinics -- well-funded anti-choice centers that offer no medical services and may even threaten or stalk women to convince them not to have abortions.
“Because they are not governed by medical privacy laws, they can use patient's private information to humiliate or terrorize them,” the new release states. “They invest in online ads, often outranking real abortion clinics. Rose and her team have fought to have them removed from these searches so that panicked women never have to listen to scare tactics. To make it less confusing, they were successful in getting Google to label fake clinic paid aids with a disclaimer stating they “Do Not Offer Abortion,” and abortion clinic ads with a statement that they “Provide Abortions."
