Paxton sues Yelp over ‘misleading’ advisory
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Yelp on Thursday, alleging the review website violated the state’s deceptive trade law when it added an “inaccurate and misleading” disclaimer on anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers pages.
The advisory, which has since been changed, said the centers typically provide only limited medical services. Paxton argued the message served to dissuade consumers from going to the centers and the company should pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
“Yelp cannot mislead and deceive the public simply because the company disagrees with our state’s abortion laws,” Paxton, a third-term Republican, said in a statement about his first major lawsuit since surviving impeachment. “Major companies cannot abuse their platforms and influence to control consumers’ behavior, especially on sensitive health issues like pregnancy and abortion.”
Crisis pregnancy centers, which provide alternatives to abortion in the form of free ultrasounds, parenting classes and baby items, are not licensed clinics and are usually run by religiously affiliated organizations.
Supporters say they are a valuable resource for low-income Texans who lack the means to have a baby, but opponents argue they advertise in purposely ambiguous ways and try to dissuade women from getting abortions.
A Yelp spokesperson said the notices were meant to protect consumers, some of whom may seek out the services of crisis pregnancy centers and others who may want to easily identify abortion providers.
Upon receiving notice that Texas planned to sue, the company on Wednesday asked a federal court in San Francisco for a protective order “to avert an irreparable chill on Yelp’s First Amendment rights.”
“The trust and safety of our users is a top priority for Yelp, which is why we take extensive measures to provide consumers with relevant and reliable information when they search for local businesses on our platform,” the company’s spokesperson said. “This is especially critical when people are searching for healthcare services on Yelp, including reproductive care.”
The original Yelp notices went up on the site after the fall of Roe vs. Wade last summer in an effort to further the company’s goal of “supporting access to reproductive healthcare,” according to a blog post in August of last year from the vice president of user operations, Noorie Malik. The U.S. Supreme Court decision triggered a near-total abortion ban in Texas that allows an exception only to save the life of the pregnant person.
“It’s well-reported that crisis pregnancy centers do not offer abortion services, and it’s been shown that many provide misleading information in an attempt to steer people seeking abortion care to other options,” Malik wrote. “With this new consumer notice, we’re aiming to further protect consumers from the potential of being misled or confused.”
Initially, the disclaimers warned consumers that the facilities “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Bastrop County state district court.
In February, after receiving a letter from 24 Republican attorneys general, including Paxton, Yelp said it disagreed that the notice was misleading but would adjust it. The new notice stated: “This is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not offer abortions or referrals to abortion providers.” Paxton’s office in a news release later called that notice “accurate.”
Yelp did not respond to questions about whether the notices still appear on all crisis pregnancy center pages. Dozens of centers are active across Texas, and have received increasing amounts of funding from the Gop-controlled Legislature.
Paxton’s office argues in its 12-page suit that the original notice “dissuaded consumers from visiting these clinics in favor of clinics that perform abortion services,” though the suit did not provide examples. The advisory also singled out crisis pregnancy centers, the suit states.
“Other types of facilities, such as Planned Parenthood and clinics performing abortion services, did not have disclaimers placed on their webpages even if the disclaimer would have been true for that facility,” the suit states.
The state is seeking a court order barring Yelp from “misrepresenting the status or amount of licensed medical professionals onsite in pregnancy resource centers,” their services or otherwise posting “any further false and/or misleading disclaimers.”