CHICAGO — Free vasectomies and abortion pills, anyone?
A mobile van offering free vasectomies and medicinal abortions outside the Democratic National Convention has two rooms where patients can get in and out in as little as 20 minutes – and grab a taco on their way out.
The van, run by Planned Parenthood, has two separate rooms where patients who filled out a registration form can get the procedure done. The organization had sent out 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 where patients could pick up goodie bags filled with face masks, candy, painkillers and cards of affirmation.
The Post went inside the van and saw one of the rooms in the truck 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.”
Follow along with The Post’s live reporting of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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.
