The Planned Parenthood mobile clinic stationed near the Democratic National Convention provided abortion pills to eight patients and performed nine vasectomies during its highly publicized two-day stint in Chicago.
An early report said the mobile health unit planned to see 25 abortion patients, but Planned Parenthood Great Rivers said that was just the number of appointments it could have taken.
“The 25 you refer to was the approximate number of available patient slots,” the Planned Parenthood affiliate told The Washington Times in a Wednesday email. “We served 9 vasectomy and 8 medication abortion patients between the two days.”
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which is based in the St. Louis area, treated the 17 patients free of charge on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of the DNC, seeking to bring attention to the abortion issue in the wake of the Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade.
“The mobile clinic is a demonstration of the possibilities when states like Illinois work to support, rather than restrict, access to affordable health care,” the affiliate said in a Monday press release.
The bus parked in the West Loop, a few blocks from the United Center, drew widespread media coverage as well as a fact-check after the Republican National Committee said on X that “Democrats are giving out ’free abortions and vasectomies’ at their convention.”
“The convention is not sponsoring or otherwise connected to these services,” PolitiFact said.
The numbers jibed with reports by Sidewalk Advocates for Life, a pro-life group that had volunteers stationed near the mobile clinic, which said its team saw far more media members than prospective patients.
“We did not see the client numbers that they were reporting in the news,” a Sidewalk Advocates volunteer said in a video posted Wednesday. “I don’t believe they had even half as many clients as they were telling people they did.”
Sidewalk Advocates spokesperson Elisabeth Beall said that there were “there were far more media on the ground than there were women seeking free abortion pills!”
While Planned Parenthood was handing out abortion pills at the DNC, we were giving away lifetime supplies of diapers to pregnant moms.
— Live Action (@LiveAction) August 21, 2024
Thank you to @everylife, @SWAdvocates &@ThriveStLouis for partnering with us to provide this life-affirming support.https://t.co/6VSLfoWtCz
Pro-life groups countered by bringing in the ThriVe pregnancy mobile unit, while the pro-life diaper company EveryLife offered free diapers “to any pregnant mom seeking an abortion at the Planned Parenthood abortion/vasectomy bus who chooses life instead.”
With some of the most abortion-friendly laws in the nation, Illinois has become an abortion destination for the region since the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to send abortion regulation to the states.
The state also borders four states with significantly tighter abortion restrictions — Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky.
“Illinois has welcomed more abortion care patients than any other state, and Planned Parenthood of Illinois continues to meet the rising flood of patients forced to travel from their home to get essential services like abortion and gender-affirming care,” said Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois.
Abortion is legal in Illinois until fetal viability, or about 23-24 weeks gestation, and then after viability to save the life of the mother or to preserve her health, which includes mental health. Parental consent and notification are not required.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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