Anyone attending either of the major political parties' national conventions can always look forward to getting some freebies while they are there. If you went to the RNC this year you were likely offered free red MAGA hats and cowboy hats, along with other trinkets supporting the ticket. When I went to cover the DNC in Philadelphia some years ago, I recall them having a carousel set up so the kids could get a free ride. But this week's DNC in Chicago is taking a slightly different approach. If you happen to be a "person with a womb" and realize that you're pregnant when you arrive, you can sign up for a free medicinal abortion administered in a trailer located conveniently close to the convention center. If you're a man (sorry... I meant "person with a Y chromosome") you can request a free vasectomy in a similarly convenient fashion. As you might expect, this obvious pandering is all being provided courtesy of Planned Parenthood. (NY Times)

While delegates are in Chicago for next week’s Democratic National Convention, they will engage in the typical pageantry and traditions: They’ll vote for their nominee, pose for photos with elected officials, and show off their state with cool buttons or themed hats.

They will also have the option of getting a free vasectomy or a medication abortion just blocks away.

A mobile health center run by Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which serves much of Missouri and part of southern Illinois, plans to park itself near the convention and offer those services early next week to anybody who makes an appointment, delegate or not. (There is so much interest in the vasectomy appointments, I’m told, there is already a waiting list.)

The reason that the Democrats would fall in line with this scheme is obvious. They will be running on abortion access in November because that's pretty much all they have left to talk about that generates any significant level of public support. Of course, that support is limited, depending on the limits - if any - you put on the procedure, but the liberals don't appear to be timid about overplaying their hand.

With all of that said, this still seems like a rather nonsensical offer. People go to conventions to participate in the gala. You tend to do a lot of walking around and standing for long periods of time. Opportunities for a good night's sleep may be few and far between. It's true that vasectomies are usually performed as an outpatient procedure, but the Mayo Clinic strongly recommends that you rest for a full 24 hours after the surgery and restrict yourself to only light activity for at least two to three days after that to avoid internal bleeding.

The recovery period after a chemical abortion is even more significant. While abortions are 100% fatal for the baby, they can produce serious complications for the formerly expectant mother as well. The entire process can take up to eight days and the patient will experience various levels of bleeding throughout that period. Staying at home and resting is the order of the day. Complications requiring a doctor's attention are described as rare, but they do occur. But if you're located in a city far from home and your "doctor" is somebody in a van that may no longer be parked in the same spot, what are you to do then?

Do either of these procedures sound like something that any sensible person would sign up for upon arriving in Chicago for the DNC? They certainly don't sound very appealing to me. Yet the New York Times claims that the free vasectomy offer was so popular that there was already a waiting list on Friday. Personally, I don't have a problem with the free vasectomy offer. For all we know, socialism may have a genetic component to it. Do we really want the guys who are inclined to show up and cheer for Kamala Harris to be procreating? In any event, this sort of "offer" is yet another example of how totally unserious progressives are about this topic. It's nothing more than a political football to them and it cheapens the importance of safeguarding people's reproductive health.