When it was discovered that the new voice assistant on the iPhone 4S, Siri, didn't identify nearby abortion clinics when asked, it created a firestorm of controversy. After the story circulated widely (with even the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation chiming in on the issue), Apple spoke out, saying that the omission was completely unintentional and that it would be amended in a future update.
It's far from the first time technology has displayed inadvertent insensitivity to social issues or politics. Gadgets, software, and equipment are only as perfect as the humans who made them, after all, and if history is any indication, that's pretty imperfect.
From webcams that don't recognize people with a certain skin tone to video technologies that make certain people sick, technology sometimes stumbles upon politically incorrect landmines in its at-times clumsy march toward the uncharted future. Engineers can't predict every possible use of a piece of software or hardware, and sometimes feelings are hurt in what they exclude, typically not by design.
Siri accidentally wading into the abortion debate is just the latest chapter in this saga. It won't be the last.