Planned Parenthood offering free abortions, vasectomies at DNC

The mobile health clinic will roll into Chicago, Aug. 19-20

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Planned Parenthood is offering more than a free T-shirt or sticker at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this coming week — the organization will offer free vasectomies, medication abortion, and emergency contraception.

Planned Parenthood Great Rivers of St. Louis announced in a X post that a bus is headed to the DNC in Chicago on Aug. 19-20 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." 

According to a report by the New York Times, there is a waiting list for free vasectomies. 

SOFTENED ABORTION LANGUAGE IN TRUMP-APPROVED GOP PLATFORM IRKS SOME SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES

Medicaid Abortion Missouri

A Planned Parenthood facility in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Democrats have made the issue of abortion a central theme in their campaigns across the country this election year, including warning that a Republican control of Congress, in tandem with another four years in the White House for former President Trump, would mean a nationwide ban.

Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade and Vice President Kamala Harris stepping in to replace President Biden, the Democratic Party has doubled down on rhetoric surrounding a "woman's right to choose."

The NYT report observed that the presence of Planned Parenthood at the DNC emphasizes a "heads-on display of a new, unbridled abortion politics."

Vice President Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about Florida’s six-week abortion ban during an event at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville, Fla., in May. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Doug Emhoff

Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at an event at Planned Parenthood in Portland, Ore., last month. (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

A Quinnipiac University poll released in April revealed information about Americans' views on abortion that could surprise voters.

According to the poll, a record number of Americans (66%) now support legal abortion in some or all cases, the highest level of support ever recorded by the poll in its two-decade history. 

A plurality of 34% said abortion should be legal in all cases, while 32% said it should be legal in most cases.

Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist after speaking during a campaign Saturday in Wilkes Barre, Pa.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The emphasis of abortion in the upcoming elections has led Trump to soften his stance on the hot-button issue.

Prior to the Republican National Convention, Trump met in a closed-door meeting to draft the Republican Party platform and slimmed down the party's once staunch opposition to abortion. 

"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 reads.

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However, for the first time in 40 years, the document makes no mention of a federal abortion ban, which the presumptive GOP presidential nominee has emphasized that he opposes.

Instead, the new platform stresses, "We will oppose late-term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments)."

pro-life demonstrators

Pro-life supporters take part in a "Rally for Life" march and celebration in January outside the Texas State Capitol in Austin. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)

The party's stance drew flak from some pro-life groups, including the Family Research Council, whose president Tony Perkins expressed his concern that the party was moving away from "protecting children from the moment of conception."

"I am concerned the Republican Party is moving away from its strong, definitive goal of protecting children from the moment of conception," Perkins wrote in a social media post.

Planned Parenthood, the DNC, and the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

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Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

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Authored by Sarah Rumpf-Whitten via FoxNews August 17th 2024