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Apple have moved swiftly to deny accusations that Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant on the iPhone 4S, is morally opposed to abortions.

Bloggers and pro-choice campaigners have complained that Siri fails to flag up local abortion clinics, and suggesting in some cases nearby pregnancy advice centres instead.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told the New York Times: "Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn't always find what you want.

"These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone, it simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better and we will in the coming weeks."

In response, The American Civil Liberties Union observed yesterday in a blog posting: "Although it isn't clear that Apple is intentionally trying to promote an anti-choice agenda, it is distressing that Siri can point you to Viagra, but not the Pill, or help you find an escort, but not an abortion clinic."

Siri is one of the new iPhone's most high-profile additions, enabling users to set reminders, access information and manage their schedules just with their voice.

US owners can get the system to answer questions about local services, although this isn't available in the UK.

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