Planned Parenthood offered free vasectomies and medicinal abortions in an oversized van outside the Democratic National Convention on Monday, giving men the chance to get snipped in as little as 20 minutes – and grab a taco on their way out.
The van, which will also operate on Tuesday, has two separate rooms where patients who filled out a registration form could get the procedure done. The organization had sent out a registration link on Thursday – and all 40 spots for the services were filled by Saturday.
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 Post went inside the van and saw one of the rooms where patients could get the procedures done. It looked like a standard medical office, but tighter due to the limited space.
Planned Parenthood planned on doing “about” ten vasectomies on Monday and a total of 25 medicated abortions throughout Monday and Tuesday, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood in the region, told The Post outside the truck on Monday.
Vasectomies take about 20 minutes once the procedure starts, she said.
“A couple of minutes in the beginning just to sort of go through the whole procedure, explain it, the risks, the benefits, alternatives. Make sure folks know that it is permanent,” McNicholas said. “Then 15-20 minutes to do the procedure and then folks are on their way.”
While organizers claimed the stunt was “not political,” they said the message behind the truck was to promote reproductive healthcare accessibility and garner headlines.
“We knew that there were going to be lots of people coming to Chicago from outside of Illinois, and again we just wanted to highlight that Illinois is a great example of how if you center healthcare policy that is based in science and evidence and puts people before politics then we can really start meeting the needs of the folks in the state,” she added.
Chicago Abortion Fund, which partnered with Planned Parenthood at the location, also aimed to bring attention to abortion access during the DNC, CFA rep Alicia Hurtado told The Post.
Chicago Abortion Fund is funded in part by the city of Chicago, as well as through donations.
“We fund abortions, we buy plane tickets and train tickets and send gas money and send childcare stipends and really make sure we’re taking folks through every single step of the way,” Hurtado said of CFA’s mission.
The CFA table had pins saying “pro-trans and pro-abortion” on the table and was also freely offering emergency contraceptive pills.
The Post spotted a sole protester outside the security gate where the truck was stationed: well-known abortion protester Randall Terry.
Terry has been arrested dozens of times for protesting outside of abortion clinics, and is running as a 2024 presidential candidate for the Constitution Party.
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He was yelling anti-abortion remarks at McNichols, claiming she wants to kill black babies and that she may answer for “her sins” in the afterlife.
source: nypost.com/planned-parenthood-offers-free-vasectomies-abortions-in-truck-outside-dnc/
