States call on YouTube to correct 'context' disclaimer misleading women
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erik Baptist regarding a letter Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, together with 15 other state attorneys general, sent to YouTube Monday asking it to correct or remove a misleading and inaccurate “context” disclaimer it put on multiple videos ADF posted on the platform explaining the serious harms abortion drugs can cause women:
“Women deserve to know the truth about the risks posed by abortion drugs, which is why the first-hand accounts ADF posted on YouTube are so vital. Yet YouTube insists on misleading women by slapping an inaccurate ‘context’ notice on our videos, despite being notified that its ‘disclaimer’ contains false information. Ironically, YouTube’s error is the crux of ADF’s lawsuit against the FDA. YouTube’s disclaimer says that the chemical abortion procedure is ‘done by a licensed healthcare professional.’ But our case challenges the FDA’s decision to end the requirement that chemical abortions be done by a licensed healthcare professional. This is only the latest instance of a Big Tech company placing its thumb on the scale of publicly available information by misrepresenting facts. Like the FDA, YouTube needs to be held accountable.”
YouTube’s disclaimer on the videos states: “An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the fetus or embryo and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is done by a licensed healthcare professional.” While it is true that surgical abortion procedures must be performed by licensed health care professionals, that is not true of chemical abortions, which are now typically done at home without any direct medical supervision. ADF attorneys argue that the FDA’s decision to set aside virtually all safety protocols on abortion drugs jeopardizes the health and safety of women, and that decision is the subject of the case the Supreme Court will hear on March 26.
ADF attorneys asked YouTube to correct the inaccurate disclaimer it ascribed to the videos, but so far, it has not done so.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Erik Baptist
Erik Baptist serves as senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, focusing on administrative litigation and regulatory advocacy. Before joining ADF, he was a partner at Wiley Rein LLP—one of the largest law firms in Washington, D.C.—where he employed his expertise in administrative and environmental law to represent clients on litigation, regulatory, and enforcement matters. Prior to working at Wiley, Baptist served as a senior executive service political appointee at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As the senior deputy general counsel and deputy assistant administrator, he directed EPA’s litigation, implemented groundbreaking rulemakings and policies, represented EPA and defended witnesses in response to congressional inquiries, and collectively helped oversee the work of more than 1,100 EPA lawyers, scientists, and staff. He earned his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. Baptist is an active member of the D.C. Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal courts of appeal.