Irish MEPs write to Health Minister as AI chatbots refer women in crisis to anti-abortion websites

Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion have written to Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill following an AlgorithmWatch investigation.

A new investigation found that at least one in four queries to the bots produced a link to an anti-abortion website, with official health services and advocacy organisations often presented without any clear distinction.

"Prompts asking about women's experiences when terminating a pregnancy produced the most problematic responses," the report states.

"In at least one out of four of all queries, the chatbots included at least one link to an anti-abortionist website in their answers."

Profemina, an international counseling service for unplanned pregnancies currently registered in Italy, appeared in around 17% of the responses throughout all languages and models.

The Profemina organization holds ties to one of the oldest US-based anti-abortion organizations, Heartbeat International (HBI). In 2018 and 2019, Profemina made headlines in Germany over allegations that its staff conducted biased counseling sessions with women facing unwanted pregnancies.

Caritas, the largest Catholic welfare organization in Germany, was mentioned in 11 out of 12 conversations in German as a place to turn for pregnancy counseling.

Ireland wasn’t included in the research, so the Sinn Fein MEPS are asking the Government to test Ireland-specific questions including whether people receive accurate information and are directed to the HSE’s My Options service. Sinn Féin will also pursue the issue through Dáil parliamentary questions.

The letter requested for the Health Minister to:

Lynn Boylan said as people increasingly turn to AI chatbots for medical information and advice, Ireland must be sure they're getting sound clinical advice.

"People facing deeply personal and time-sensitive situations such as an unintended pregnancy are seeking this information while they may be frightened, isolated and in urgent need of help," she said.

“They must not be misled or left unable to distinguish trusted healthcare information from ideologically motivated sources. We need to establish what information people in Ireland are receiving and whether they are being directed to the HSE’s My Options service.

“Companies providing these systems must be transparent about the sources behind their answers and ensure that inaccurate or misleading information does not delay access to time-sensitive healthcare.”