For women considering the termination of their pregnancy, a new chatbot called Charley aims to help them start the process. The chatbot is at ChatWithCharley.org, greeting visitors with the message, “Need an abortion? Let’s get started.” Charley was designed by abortion experts, and made for abortion seekers. Charley isn’t an app — it lives online, on its own website. The company is seeking medical providers who will agree to incorporate the chatbot directly on their websites to help abortion seekers wherever they are. A developer says the idea of a chatbot came about after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The chatbot improves people’s online search experience. Unlike large language models like ChatGPT, Charley doesn’t allow people to type questions. Instead, the chatbot uses a decision tree format that guides visitors through a series of prompts, including the desired type of abortion and the date of their last menstrual period. It also asks for a zip code to determine the specific abortion laws in the visitor’s state of residence. Charley is designed to be anonymous.
