This week, Chamber of Progress and sexual health group Advocates for Youth sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file a brief in support of Google in the case Gonzalez v. Google to ensure the continued availability of life-saving reproductive health resources. 

The letter argues that as Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country enact total abortion bans and attempt to restrict the availability of reproductive health information, online services provide critical access to that information. A Supreme Court decision undermining Section 230 in Gonzalez might compel platforms to limit access to reproductive health resources.

Read the full letter to Attorney General Garland here.

In the letter, Chamber of Progress and Advocates for Youth highlight that Section 230 protects the ability of websites to host content about reproductive health access criminalized in anti-abortion states. The letter states: 

“Should the Court curb Section 230’s protections for algorithmic curation, online services would face extreme threats of liability for promoting life-saving reproductive health information, otherwise criminalized by state anti-abortion laws. While these laws should ultimately be ruled unconstitutional, online services will face significant legal risk for promoting third-party resources for reproductive healthcare. This would be a devastating reality for women seeking reproductive resources in states where they are unavailable.”

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Chamber of Progress (progresschamber.org) is a center-left tech industry policy coalition promoting technology’s progressive future.  We work to ensure that all Americans benefit from technological leaps, and that the tech industry operates responsibly and fairly.  

Our corporate partners do not have a vote on or veto over our positions. We do not speak for individual partner companies and remain true to our stated principles even when our partners disagree.