credit: Apple
by Nita Chaudhary and Shaunna Thomas of MoveOn.org
Wow! In just over 24 hours, almost 30,000 have signed the petition to Apple demanding that Siri and iPhone stop promoting anti-abortion “crisis” centers and offer full family planning services when women search for abortions.
Thanks in big part to our call, the story is spreading like wildfire and getting major news coverage. It was even on the Colbert Report. And in the Washington Post –ACLU demands action from Apple and NARAL demands answers – here on CBS. Apple responded to the controversy yesterday saying that the omission of family planning services wasn’t intentional and that they plan to fix it.
But let’s be clear: Every time a woman enters a pregnancy “crisis” center she is given misleading information and anti-abortion propaganda that can be harmful to her. Apple hasn’t laid out a timeline for when this fix will happen and Siri’s “glitch” is actively hurting women every day that it stays in effect.
You can call Apple too. Tell them thanks for acknowledging the mistake but let them know that iPhone users expect an apology from Apple and a clear timeline for when it will be fixed: Apple Customer Helpline: 1(800) 676-2775
When you hear the recording, ask to speak to a representative about iPhone 4S. When you get through to a person, either at a store or at the helpline, please click this link to let us know what happened.
Apple told the New York Times yesterday:
“Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn’t always find what you want,” said Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, in a phone interview late Wednesday. “These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone. 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.”
It doesn’t matter why this happened with iPhone. What matters most is that the effect it’s having is harmful to women. Apple needs to apologize and lay out a speedy timeline for a fix–right away.