We came across the following topic across multiple posts on the social media site X:
The posts claim that free vasectomies and abortions were being offered at the DNC (Democratic National Convention) in Chicago in the US, where the Democratic Party and its delegates convened to formally select the party’s presidential election candidate.
Some of the posts claimed that alongside the free abortions and vasectomies, a giant inflatable IUD (intrauterine device), a contraception device, would be erected at the convention. The reports were also picked up by conservative media outlets such as Fox News.
In light of this, some social media users have accused the Democratic Party of attempting to sterilise people to ‘depopulate’ the country under the guise of reproductive health.
Credible News Reports
When we investigated these claims, we found credible news reports by publications such as The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times had both reported on the DNC, with the publications both reporting on the free vasectomies and abortions as well as the giant inflatable IUD that was on display near the convention.
While these news reports confirmed that the presence of reproductive health services were available close to the event, they also noted that the services were organised by organisations other than the Democratic Party.
The New York Times reported that the abortions and vasectomies would be available at a mobile health centre run by Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which would park near the convention and offer services to anyone who made an appointment, delegate or not.
The abortions were medication (pill-based) abortions rather than surgical abortions, and can be used to end a pregnancy up through 10 weeks of gestation.
Meanwhile, the giant inflatable IUD, named ‘Freeda Womb’, was displayed by the Americans for Contraception advocacy group ‘near the United Center’—the location of the event.
These were not the only highlights related to reproductive health seen around the convention. One another organisation, Voters for Tomorrow, handed out free condoms, while a ‘Hotties for Harris’ party hosted by abortion rights activists took place, among many other events.
Such campaigns are indicative of how reproductive health had become a central pillar of the Democratic Party’s presidential election strategy, along with the core concerns of a large segment of their supporters.
Coordination with the Party?
While the initiatives were not directly organised by the Democratic Party, there does appear to have been some degree of coordination between the party and a few of the organisations, with some of the campaigns being utilised by party figures at the convention.
The Des Moines Register noted that the Americans for Contraception group had ‘joined a handful of Democratic leaders (to give speeches) to promote birth control access’. The speeches included one given by a Democratic Party state representative in front of the Freeda Womb installation regarding the need to provide contraception as essential health care.
However, it does not appear that the mobile health clinic was affiliated with the Party.
Verify, a factchecking service run by the US-based TEGNA television networks, found that the clinic was to be set up in a neighbourhood between two locations where DNC events were taking place, but was not within either location.
It also noted that the DNC website made no note of the clinic or that free abortions were being offered to attendees. Moreover, the press release announcing the clinic by Planned Parenthood makes no mention of the DNC either. Verify thus rated the claim that the DNC is offering free abortions as false.
Chicago and the state of Illinois has become a destination for abortions as access to abortion has been restricted across much of the region.
Carving out the Truth
While it is clear that the DNC featured several campaigns and plenty of activists advocating for greater individual rights and accessibility to reproductive health services, there is no indication that the Planned Parenthood mobile clinics, which provided free abortions and vasectomies, were affiliated with the DNC or the Democratic Party.
When contacted by Snopes, the communacations director for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers stated that they were ‘not (located) at or affiliated with the DNC’. Snopes rated the claim that free abortions and vasectomies were being offered in Chicago during the 2024 DNC as a mixture of truth and falsehood.
Given Chicago’s status as a hotspot for reproductive health access, it appears that Planned Parenthood organised its clinics to coincide with the increased visibility brought by the DNC without coordinating directly with the convention.
To conclude, we find the claim that free abortions and vasectomies were available at the DNC in Chicago to be mostly false due to the misleading suggestions of it being organised by the Democratic Party.
While there were free abortions and vasectomies located close to the convention, they were unaffiliated with the DNC or the Democratic Party and were available to all regardless of political affilition or attendance at the convention.
