STOPLINE: operation sabotage access to information about abortion

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 1:23pm by jenna

I know it's probably bad form to post the same thing on more than one of my blogs, but it's hard not to when you really really really want to get the word out about something. So, please go see my Radical Reference post on how a government funded database on reproductive health is deliberately sabotaging access to information about abortion. (emphasis added)

Thanks to Lia for posting about it on her blog after reading about the issue on the PLG list (to which I also subscribe, but clearly don't read carefully enough).

free:

Comments

nochoicebutchoice (not verified)

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 4:06pm

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Thanks for posting this. I'm

Thanks for posting this. I'm going to help spread the word and hopefully get some people to write some angry--and (now) informed--missives!

Deborah (not verified)

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 4:55pm

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Hey - I just tried it and

Hey - I just tried it and Abortion did appear in the index. Am I missing something?

jenna

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 5:01pm

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It's in the index (for now),

It's in the index (for now), but if you use abortion as the sole search term, you will get zero results.

As I wrote on Radical Reference:

Go to POPLINE's search interface
Type the word "abortion" (sans quotes) in the Subject box
Click Browse Index
Wish that you'd been wearing a hat so that after your head exploded you'd been able to find all the pieces.
If you're still able to communicate coherently, call or write the bastards at Johns Hopkins carrying out the government's war on information. Or take some other kind of direct action if that's your thing.

jenna

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 5:56pm

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Actually make that Click

Actually make that Click Search, not Browse Index.

Deborah (not verified)

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 8:02pm

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OK, I just tried this (using

OK, I just tried this (using IE, as the database doesn't work at all using Firefox). I browsed the index, found Abortion, and then clicked Paste to put it in the subject window. I got 24943 hits.

Granted, this isn't a very intuitive way to search, but maybe it's just a crappily designed database? I haven't searched it before, so don't know. (I am more than happy to blow the whistle if it is anything beyond that, believe me...)

jenna

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 8:12pm

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Hey Deborah, Fascinating

Hey Deborah,

Fascinating that it worked when pasted.

But what folks need to know is that POPLINE deliberately made "abortion" a stop word. They recommend using 'Fertility Control, Postconception' instead. Per brassratgirl's post,

"A researcher wrote and asked why they were getting fewer results than before, and got this reply:

"Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008

"Hi researcher,

"Yes we did make a change in POPLINE. We recently made all abortion terms stop words. As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now. In addition to the terms you’re already using, you could try using 'Fertility Control, Postconception'. This is the broader term to our 'Abortion' terms and most records have both in the keyword fields. Also, adding 'unwanted w2 pregnancy' in place of aborti*. We have a keyword Pregnancy, Unwanted and there are 2517 records with aborti* & unwanted w2 pregnancy

"I hope this helps.

"Popline database manager"

The POPLINE db manager being Debra L. Dickson, according to a comment from Arpita Bose on the Rad Ref post.