From vasectomies to abortion pills, Planned Parenthood sets up mobile clinic near DNC

As Democrats began gathering for the first day of their convention, across town, Luis Ayala was getting something he’d been wanting for a while.

“I mean, it was a little uncomfortable,” he said, laughing. “I don’t think it was painful but it was uncomfortable.”

He was a little uncomfortable because he just had a vasectomy.

Ayala is 28 and works as an electrician. His wife saw a social media post about a free reproductive health clinic Planned Parenthood was sponsoring in Chicago during the Democratic convention, and suggested that he sign up.

“I have three kids and pretty much I wanted to stop having kids,” Ayala explained about having the procedure.

“That way I can focus on the three kids that I have and give them the best future they can have.”

His wife, Fabiola Ayala, says they wanted the procedure a few years ago while she was pregnant with their third child.

But another doctor discouraged her husband because he was in his early 20s.

“So I ended up having to get on birth control and I’m ready to remove my birth control and just get off the hormones,” she said.

Luis Ayala was just one of 10 patients who sought vasectomy care at the mobile clinic.

In a second exam room on the other side of the RV, Dr. Colleen McNicholas offered prescriptions for abortion pills - which she says patients could take on site or take home, under Illinois law.

Illinois, where Democrats control state government, has become a major access point for patients seeking abortions.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to show how when you have a state like Illinois that prioritizes healthcare access and passes good policy that you can be creative and innovative in how you meet people’s healthcare needs,” Dr. McNicholas said of the clinics presence near