If you ask Siri where to hide a body, the iPhone’s virtual assistant will happily oblige. But if you ask Siri where to get an abortion? No can do.
For the moment, Siri is pro-life, as Abortioneers and other blogs pointed out this week. Even when an abortion clinic is located nearby, Siri may tell users that she can’t find any clinics, or in some cases will direct users to a far away location instead of the nearest one.
(FOLLOW-UP: While Siri Won’t Tell You Where to Get an Abortion, Apple Says ‘These Are Not Intentional Omissions’)
Mediaite notes some stranger occurrences: In the Washington, D.C. area, Siri directs users to pro-life alternatives, and if you ask Siri for an “abortion facility,” it asks if you meant “abortion clinic,” but still returns no answers. According to an Abortioneers reader, Siri also comes up with nothing when asked where to find birth control or emergency contraception.
According to Apple, there’s no agenda here. “These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone,” Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told the New York Times. “It simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better, and we will in the coming weeks.”
Of course, this is a matter of principle–not just for abortion supporters, but supporters of uncensored search results–rather than a practical issue. After all, a simple Google search would turn up local abortion clinics. But there is a workaround for now, as PC Mag points out: Just ask Siri for “Planned Parenthood” instead.