Have you heard of Charley? With the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision striking down the nationwide right to abortion caused many health centers to close and therefore forcing abortion seekers to travel out of state or seek out abortion pills and/or services online.
Released September 2023, Charley the chatbot, connects community members with reliable organizations that can help people in every zip code understand their abortion care options. Charley is a private and secure chatbot that provides users with personalized abortion options, including information about different abortion care methods, nearby clinics, accessing abortion pills, and referrals to support services. It's a user-friendly, judgment-free, and confidential tool designed by abortion experts for abortion seekers. This chatbot inevitably makes health care more accessible as navigating abortion care options online can be both daunting and intimidating; especially as pregnancy crisis centers — which often promote parenting or adoption options and often "disguise" themselves as clinics — attempt to dissuade community members from receiving the medical care they are seeking, wanting and deserving.
According to Charley, "the information provided by Charley, including facts and statistics, has been screened by medical and legal experts, and the partners and directories it links to are all trusted reproductive justice and abortion advocacy organizations." Charley pulls the latest information on state abortion restrictions, nearby clinics, and abortion pill options from a variety of trusted databases. All of the information Charley shares has been vetted by experienced reproductive health experts, doctors, and lawyers to ensure accuracy.
Recognizing that data tracking and privacy are a priority (and sometimes even a potential barrier) for abortion seekers, Charley never asks for identifiable information such as name, phone number, address age, and does not share data with third parties. All information provided to Charley gets deleted from the system. However, the chatbot does store someone's IP address, which is traceable to someone's general location, and chat history for a limited time (prior to being encrypted and then deleted). While users should feel safe using Charley to do research and get more information about their options, it is encouraged that users practice private browsing habits by removing the page from their browser history or using “incognito” mode--just in case.
Charley is committed to ensuring that all abortion seekers—especially those in states with restrictions on abortion—can easily find and privately access medically accurate information about their abortion care options; because everyone, no matter where they live or how far along they are, should be able to make the decision that is best for them.
