A Planned Parenthood mobile clinic near the Democratic National Convention in Chicago promoted free medication abortions, vasectomies and emergency contraception during the first two days of the DNC with the goal of providing “care, no matter where.”
The mobile clinic was in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, near the United Center and the DNC, from noon to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, the first and second days of the convention.
On Monday morning, Planned Parenthood wrote in a press release that “all appointments are full” and urged patients to make an appointment at a Planned Parenthood of Illinois health center in Chicago at www.ppil.org.
“As people from across the country travel to Illinois this week, we are proud to demonstrate what is possible when policy supports truly accessible reproductive health care,” said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, in a statement.
The group said the mobile clinic shows “the possibilities when states like Illinois work to support access to affordable health care rather than restrict it.”
Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said in a statement that Illinois has “accepted more abortion patients than any other state,” and Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said CAF has “processed over 25,000 requests for assistance from people across 44 states” since the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
On the first day of the DNC in Chicago, abortion rights were repeatedly discussed.
On the United Center stage, women told their personal abortion stories, including Hadley Duvall, who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather, and Amanda Zurawski, who said she almost died because of her state’s abortion ban.
In his opening remarks, President Biden also criticized former President Donald Trump for appointing three of the five conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade, giving states the ability to enact restrictive abortion policies.
The congress continues on Tuesday with Day 2 in Chicago.
