Google Bans Pro-Life Ads Ahead of Ireland Vote to Legalize Abortion

Google no longer will run ads related to the Irish abortion vote on its search site or YouTube, according to the Irish Independent. Google said the policies will apply to ads from both sides of the abortion debate; but when LifeNews searched Google for ads just prior to its new policy taking effect, it found only one ad – a pro-life ad – when it searched “Ireland abortion referendum” and “Ireland 8th amendment”  The ad is for the Love Both campaign, a coalition of Irish pro-life groups working to defend unborn babies’ rights in the country.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced similar plans, though with a more limited scope. Only abortion-related ads from Irish sources will be allowed ahead of the vote. Both claimed they are concerned about foreign groups influencing the election through ads on their platforms.

“Following our update around election integrity efforts globally, we have decided to pause all ads related to the Irish referendum on the Eighth Amendment,” a Google spokesperson said.

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan TD told The Irish Times the new policies will protect the integrity of the referendum.

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“Following on from Facebook’s announcement yesterday, this announcement by Google is further welcome news,” he said. “This is not about which side of the referendum you’re on, Yes or No. It is about protecting the integrity of our referendum and political system.”

However, the announcements may be concerning to pro-lifers, given the influence and liberal bias of the two top media platforms in the world. Facebook and Google have strong biases against the pro-life argument. Their platforms have censored and blocked pro-life information while allowing pro-abortion activists to post lies and deceptions openly.

Their timing raises questions about bias. It is only two weeks until the election, so why did the two companies wait until now to roll out these new policies? Does it have anything to do with several new polls showing the pro-life side is gaining ground? And they appear to only target the pro-life side since no pro-abortion ads are currently running.

Abortion activists praised Google’s decision.

Ailbhe Smyth, co-director of the Together for Yes campaign — a group committed to repealing the Eighth Amendment — praised Google’s ban on referendum-related advertising, telling the Irish Times that it “creates a level playing field between all sides, specifically in relation to YouTube and Google searches.”

There are very real concerns about outside political influence on Irish voters, but the clearest evidence points to underhanded dealings on the pro-abortion side.

The Irish government began asking questions of pro-abortion groups in 2016 after a leaked document from American billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations revealed plans to push Ireland and other pro-life countries to legalize abortion on demand, the Catholic News Agency reported at the time.

The Abortion Rights Campaign, an Irish group that received €25,000 from Soros, agreed to return the donation. However, Amnesty International Ireland, which received €137,000 from Soros, refused.

The donations are illegal under the 1997 Electoral Act, according to the Irish Standards in Public Office Commission, or Sipo.

But Amnesty Ireland described the electoral act as “unjust.” Then, in April, it claimed it has not used Soros’s money for its pro-abortion campaign, according to the Irish Times.

Soros is one of the richest men in the world. He has given hundreds of millions of dollars to pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.

On May 25, Ireland is scheduled to vote on whether to retain its Eighth Amendment, which protects unborn babies’ right to life. Abortion activists, backed by some of the world’s richest men, are pushing the pro-life country to legalize abortion on demand. Pro-lifers estimate that the Eighth Amendment has saved approximately 100,000 unborn babies’ lives from abortion.

If the amendment is repealed, government leaders plan to push a proposal to legalize abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and later in a broad range of circumstances.

Two polls this spring show the pro-abortion campaigners are losing ground. Still, support for abortion is higher than opposition. In April, the Business Insider reported 47 percent of Irish voters now say they will vote to repeal the pro-life Eighth Amendment – down 9 points from an earlier poll. According to the poll, 28 percent will vote to retain the pro-life amendment, and 20 percent are undecided.

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