Librarians are shocked and disgusted at this, but for everyone else it's a fantastic "WTF!?" moment.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89398211

QuoteNPR.org, April 4, 2008 · The world's largest database on reproductive health, POPLINE, has been blocking searches using the term "abortion" since late February. The block was removed Friday afternoon.

POPLINE, maintained by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, restored the search function after school officials found out about the block.

The database is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has rules against using federal funds for any activity that lobbies for abortion.

Quote...was doing an update of the search in the POPLINE database and she noticed a discrepancy in the retrieval," said Gail Sorrough, UCSF director of medical library services. "She got fewer citations than the first time she ran the search, which is unusual.

"So she contacted POPLINE and asked if there had been any changes in the database," Sorrough said. "And the POPLINE administrator replied that, yes, they had decided to turn the term abortion into a 'stop word.'"

A "stop word" is something like "a," "an" and "the." Search engines ignore stop words.

They fixed it, but this never, never should've happened.  Good Gravy.  I almost put this in Plato's Playground, but there's nothing to debate. Making "abortion" searches not work in a database like this is beyond stupid, more like ignominious.  
 No amount of "ohdear" icons can describe the disappointment.

I don't really see the problem.

disgusting.

Quote from: Supahdupa;1276856I don't really see the problem.

It's a database on reproductive health and family planning, and someone thought it would be a good idea to ignore the term "abortion."  As in, no results for that term.  It's a research tool!

Fucking politics. Thats all I can really say. Why don't I just go to a chruch and take down all of their crucifixes because I don't agree with what they represent?

Quote from: joliet_jane;1276862It's a database on reproductive health and family planning, and someone thought it would be a good idea to ignore the term "abortion."  As in, no results for that term.  It's a research tool!

Doesn't it affect privacy etc?

Oh for pete's sake.

While I don't like abortion and all that, this is still I'm a edgy teen.  It's a search engine.   People use it to learn shit.  Blocking things defeats that purpose.

I don't like violent crime more, so I support abortions.

uh ohhhhhhhhh here comes some butthurt

I wouldn't go on a search engine that is named Popline.

Quote from: Supahdupa;1276866Doesn't it affect privacy etc?

Nooo, it wasn't medical records. It was just information, like definitions and shit. It wasn't records of people that had them and such.

Abortion is the new porn.

OH NO STEROIDS IN BASEBALL!!!1

What's next?

Since when is giving a definition of abortion "lobbying for it"?

Quote from: Officer Michaels;1276912Blocking things defeats that purpose.

i.e. China blocking websites that encourage democracy.

Sure, killing babies is a different story (that's my view on it,  but that's for another discussion), but forcing people not to look at certain information really kills your credibility. Someone who's ignorant about abortion would be more likely to be influenced into doing it than someone who knows the effects, along with how the baby is killed.

Not for the queasy:

http://anti-abortion.info/images/aborted_9_week_fetus.jpg

The URL says it all. If you don't like miniature human gore, I'd highly recommend not clicking on that. Then again, it may get someone to think twice about abortion. Case in point, while I don't like abortion at all, it's important that people know about it.

It's like how if you type anything about bombs and/or how to make them into Google, the government might start tracking your computer. That, however, is also a different story.

Quote from: AirPumpClock;1276969i.e. China blocking websites that encourage democracy.

Sure, killing babies is a different story (that's my view on it,  but that's for another discussion), but forcing people not to look at certain information really kills your credibility. Someone who's ignorant about abortion would be more likely to be influenced into doing it than someone who knows the effects, along with how the baby is killed.

I agree with all of that.

Oh god, undeveloped, removed fetuses aren't very nice looking. Better not abort. And hey, tumors don't look very nice either.


Not for the queasy:
http://www.medscape.com/content/2003/00/45/56/455646/art-sm455646.fig1.jpg

Might get someone to think twice about getting a tumor removed. :\/






I hate when people bring out pictures of undeveloped babies and say the fact that it looks gruesome is a reason to outlaw abortion.

Quote from: AirPumpClock;1276969http://anti-abortion.info/images/aborted_9_week_fetus.jpg

I shall call him 'mini-me'

I hate when people blindly disagree with abortion when they don't look at the benefits of it. Ever wonder why crime drastically dropped about 16 years after Roe vs Wade? ZOMG AMAZING!!!!!!!