Women's rights activists are calling for the removal of the ads while noting that Pandora's leaders have given money to anti-choice politicians.

Women's rights activists are calling for the removal of the ads while noting that Pandora's leaders have given money to anti-choice politicians.

Pandora

Many users of the music streaming service Pandora are used to hearing advertisements every few songs, but recently they began hearing advertisements for so-called pregnancy hotlines, which are effectively online and phone-based versions of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). Women’s rights activists are calling for the removal of the ads while noting that Pandora’s leaders have given money to anti-choice politicians.

The ads target women with unplanned pregnancies and direct them to call 1-844-UCHOOSE, an anti-choice hotline that disseminates misinformation about reproductive health care. UltraViolet, a group protesting the Pandora ads, claims that callers to the UCHOOSE hotline are told that they can get cancer from having an abortion, among other demonstrably false information.

The supposed link between abortion and cancer is not supported by medical research.

Earlier this year organizations like Google and Yahoo removed similarly deceptive ads from CPCs after UltraViolet and NARAL Pro-Choice America called on the companies to remove the ads.

Sex. Abortion. Parenthood. Power. The latest news, delivered straight to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE

UltraViolet is now once again calling for action, and began an online petition to demand Pandora remove the ads. In an email to supporters, UltraViolet called it “outrageous” that Pandora is profiting from ads that mislead and lie to women.

UltraViolet noted in the same email that Pandora’s leaders have given to anti-choice politicians. For instance, the company’s co-founder and board member Tim Westergren has given money to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who has a decidedly anti-choice voting record, and has been a co-sponsor of federal “personhood” legislation.

Three of the company’s board members, James Feuille, Peter Gotcher, and David Sze, also made political contributions to Chaffetz. Westergren and other board members have made contributions to other anti-choice politicians, including Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).

In 2013, Pandora’s then CEO Joseph Kennedy also contributed to Chaffetz campaign, as well the campaign of Rep. Goodlatte, who suggested restricting access to abortion because it would benefit economy if women had more children, and said that carrying pregnancies to term “very much promotes job creation.”

The 1-844-UCHOOSE hotline is operated by Bethany Christian Services, a “nonprofit family preservation and child welfare organization” that operates a multi-million dollar service that separates pregnant women from their family and friends and places them in private homes with individuals who encourage them to continue their pregnancy and place the child with an adoptive family.

Bethany claims to provide pregnant people with “accurate and complete information about their options.” The hotline’s website portrays abortion as a dangerous medical procedure. However, abortion has been repeatedly shown to be safe and well regulated.

Advertisements are delivered to users based on their registration data, including their gender and age, according to Pandora’s terms of service. Pandora uses this as a selling point for potential advertisers.

When asked for comment, Pandora emailed a statement to Rewire that said ads on the streaming music service are not indicative of the company’s views.

“The appearance of an organization’s advertisement on Pandora is not an indication that Pandora endorses or shares the views of a given organization,” the statement said. “Our ads are screened to ensure that they are not false, misleading, fraudulent, inaccurate, unfair, or containing gross exaggeration.”