It sounds too good to be true: an “intelligent personal assistant that helps you get things done just by asking.” But that’s exactly how Apple is billing “Siri,” a special feature on the newest iPhone that can recognize your voice commands and help you with seemingly any question you might come up with. The possibilities are endless: reserving movie tickets; ordering Chinese food; scheduling a meeting; the list just goes on. And, it would appear, Siri isn’t very squeamish about which topics she’ll help you with: if you ask her how to get Viagra, she’ll tell you exactly where to go; if you ask her where you can have sex -- even using, um, “R-rated language” -- she’ll list off all the local escort services and give you their contact info. You can even ask her where to dump a dead body, and she’ll list off your various options. (Seriously.)
But if you ask Siri where you can find birth control… she suddenly draws a blank. If you ask her where to find an abortion clinic… she’s got nothing. (Or, perhaps worse, she may send you in the direction of a “pregnancy crisis center,” where they neither provide nor refer for abortions and are notorious for giving false and misleading information on the subject.) It would appear that when it comes to reproductive health care, Siri isn’t so assistive after all.
To be fair to Apple, Siri is still in its beta version, meaning the last glitches are being worked out before the final version is released. But given all that Siri appears capable of – and its obvious willingness to explore adult-themed subjects – it’s disturbing and entirely inadequate that she can’t provide you with basic and accurate information about reproductive health care services - including access to birth control or abortion care services.
The ACLU has set up a petition page where you can let Apple know about this “glitch” and make sure that it is fixed posthaste. Visit it today and ask Apple to set Siri straight.
