The 2024 Democratic National Convention offered a macabre door prize; free abortions and vasectomies. Held from August 19 to 22, 2024, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois,the DNC made Kamala Harris’s nomination official, focusing on her pro-abortion platform.
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers of St. Louis announced in a X post that a bus was headed to the DNC to offer free services.
“Here we come, Chicago! Our mobile health clinic will be in the West Loop with @ChiAbortionFund & @TheWienerCircle Aug 19-20, providing FREE vasectomies & medication abortion,” the post said. “EC will also be available for free without an appointment.”
The Planned Parenthood location noted that there is a waiting list for vasectomies during their time at the convention.
“We currently have a waitlist for free vasectomies,” a follow-up X post said. “Repost to spread the word!”
Outside the van was a taco truck, as well as a stand run by the Chicago Abortion Fund, which offered patients goodie bags filled with face masks, candy, painkillers and cards of affirmation.
The announcement added that medical procedure sterilizing men took as little as 20 minutes. Planned Parenthood planned on doing approximately ten vasectomies on Monday and a total of 25 medicated abortions throughout Monday and Tuesday. The organization had sent out a registration link on Thursday – and all 40 spots for the services were filled by Saturday.
Organizers claimed the activity was “not political,” claiming the message behind the truck was to promote reproductive healthcare accessibility and garner headlines.
Chicago Abortion Fund, which partnered with Planned Parenthood at the location, also aimed to bring attention to abortion access during the DNC. Chicago Abortion Fund is funded in part by the city of Chicago, as well as through donations. The Chicago Abortion Fund was also outside the van offering goodie bags.
The CFA table inexplicably had pins saying “pro-trans and pro-abortion” on the table and was also freely offering emergency contraceptive pills. It is unclear what the connection was between abortion and transgender.
The Wieners Circle, a popular Chicago hot dog shop, posted on X that it is offering free hot dogs to patients who visit the Planned Parenthood mobile health clinic. The Wieners Circle also posted about promotions for themed hot dogs and products that ridiculed Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees Donald Trump and JD Vance.
“We’re happy to support all reproductive health decisions, it’s up to you – NOT the government,” The Wieners Circle said in a post on X.
Halacha (Jewish law) strictly prohibits male sterilization and elective abortions.
Planned Parenthood has placed reproductive rights front and center at this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago and is offering free vasectomies, medication abortions and emergency contraceptives to attendees through its mobile health bus.
Democrats have made the issue of abortion a central theme in their campaigns across the country this election year, including warning that Republican control of Congress, in tandem with another four years in the White House for former President Trump, would mean a nationwide ban.
It is unclear why abortion is a topic of debate in the upcoming presidential elections. When the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, effectively overruling both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the issue of abortion is decided by the individual states. Both candidates have outlined their platform on the subject though it is unclear how they will implement an issue that is the purview of the courts.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee is in favor of legalizing abortion nationwide, previously calling it a “fundamental freedom” in an MSNBC interview. While she has rejected claims by pro-life groups that she advocates for late-term abortions in all states up until the moment of birth, she has refused to specify any limits.
As attorney general in California, Harris was criticized for not prosecuting Planned Parenthood for accusations they were selling body parts. She also ordered state investigators to search the home of David Daleiden, a journalist who released videos that showed Planned Parenthood employees discussing fees for fetal tissue and organs. State investigators seized his records. This policy was continued by Xavier Becerra, who was appointed the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under Biden.
At the Republican National Convention last month, President Trump removed a national abortion ban from the party’s platform for the first time in 40 years.
“We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process and that the states are, therefore, free to pass laws protecting those rights,” the draft of the Republican platform reads. “We will oppose late-term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”
After President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Harris became the unofficial Democratic party candidate. Harris has not received any votes in a public election. Harris ran in the 2020 democratic presidential primaries but pulled out after infighting and fundraising difficulties. Despite having described Biden as a racist in the debates, he chose her as his running mate after pledging he would choose a “woman of color.”
