The Texas Office of the Attorney General sued Yelp after the company posted misleading disclaimers on pregnancy resource centers listed on the site.
Yelp’s language intended to discredit the Pro-Life nonprofits violate the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act, the attorney general argued.
Yelp responded by suing the State of Texas. The company filed its case in California, where its headquarters is based, and says its disclaimer is “a truthful statement intended to enable Yelp users to make informed choices.”
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Yelp’s CEO pledged to “take action” and began posting consumer notices on the Yelp profiles of Pro-Life pregnancy centers, stating the organizations “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.”
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The attorney general’s office stated in a press release, “Yelp’s CEO is entitled to his views on abortion, but he was not entitled to use the Yelp platform to deceptively disparage facilities that counsel pregnant women instead of providing abortions.”
“Yelp cannot mislead and deceive the public simply because the company disagrees with our state’s abortion laws,” Attorney General Ken Paxton added. “Major companies cannot abuse their platforms and influence to control consumers’ behavior, especially on sensitive health issues like pregnancy and abortion.”
Pregnancy resource centers provide free help to women—before and after the baby is born—such as diapers, formula, baby clothes, cribs, counseling, job skills training, education mentoring, shelter, and often medical resources.
Abortion advocates despise these nonprofits because women who visit them are at least 20% less likely to seek an abortion than women who do not.
Read stories of women in Texas who found hope from pregnancy resource centers:
Kaye
Kaye was thinking about having an abortion even though she said she didn’t believe in it. Her boyfriend had lost his job and he wanted to move in with her so she could support him. The last thing he wanted was the added expense of a baby, so he pressured Kaye to have an abortion. This was her first pregnancy and she was torn between her personal convictions and the stress of her current circumstances. She came to Fifth Ward Pregnancy Help Center to discuss whether she should continue her pregnancy.
Kaye said she was considering abortion if the pregnancy wasn’t too far along. After learning about the fetal development, however, she decided she needed additional time to think about her decision.
She struggled between the fear of raising her baby alone, if she chose to carry to term and the fear of regret, if she chose to terminate.
After taking time to reflect on her options she decided to carry and parent her baby. Kaye received much-needed support from Fifth Ward and she fell in love with her baby girl.
She has repeatedly expressed gratitude for the support, materials assistance, and encouragement she received at Fifth Ward and has mentioned that she hates to think of what might have happened if she had not visited our center during her time of crisis.
Kara
Kara first came into The Life Center to take a pregnancy test.
She had one year left of college and was terrified of what a child would mean for her future, not to mention the fear of telling her parents.
The pregnancy center listened to her, counseled her, and answered all of her questions.
Even though Kara seemed overwhelmed by the upcoming months of pregnancy, she remained strong in her desire to continue working and finish school on time. She expressed gratitude for the referrals and support she had received from The Life Center.
Mary
Mary was living out of her car on a cold January day when she first called the Gabriel Project Life Center.
She had no job, nowhere to live, no driver’s license, and no gas money. She did not know how far along her pregnancy was. Over the phone, she said that she needed maternity clothes, and diapers. The conversation was cut short too soon when we were disconnected because she ran out of minutes on her cell phone.
When she visited the center in-person, she wrote that she liked the Gabriel Project Life Center because the staff “seemed truly concerned” for her and her children.
Over the next six months, Mary came numerous times to the Gabriel Project Life Center to talk with its mentors, to attend pregnancy and parenting classes, and to receive material assistance.
Mary gave birth to her son, found an apartment, obtained a driver’s license, and became a manager at her job.
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