Attorney General Miyares Joins 24-State Coalition Urging Yelp Not to Discriminate Against Crisis Pregnancy Centers 

RICHMOND, VA – Attorney General Jason Miyares today joined a 24-state coalition of attorneys general in sending a letter to Yelp opposing the company's practice of discriminating against crisis pregnancy centers in online consumer notices.

Last year, Yelp announced that the company would begin issuing consumer notices to the Yelp profiles of crisis pregnancy centers. The notices claim to inform consumers that crisis pregnancy centers "typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.” The attorneys general are calling on Yelp to stop misrepresenting the services of these crisis pregnancy centers.

"Crisis pregnancy centers provide compassion and support to women in a time of need, at little to no cost. They are private charities that have bore the brunt of political attacks from politicians and corporations who disagree with their mission, and Yelp's recent announcement is no different. Yelp's unilateral targeting of crisis pregnancy centers is wrong and discriminatory,” said Attorney General Miyares. 

In the letter to Yelp, the coalition argues that applying these notices to all crisis pregnancy centers but not to Planned Parenthood and related facilities is discriminatory. In the letter, the attorneys general write, "The fact that Yelp has apparently applied the Consumer Notice only to crisis pregnancy centers means that Yelp has singled out crisis pregnancy centers for disparate treatment. This sort of discrimination is unacceptable.” In 2019, crisis pregnancy centers provided ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, STD testing, parenting and prenatal education classes, recovery counseling, and other services valued at over $266 million to nearly two million Americans.

Last July, Attorney General Miyares led a letter to Google expressing concerns about Google allegedly censoring pregnancy centers from search results, online advertising, and other products like Google Maps.

To read a copy of the letter, click here.

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