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.)
It’s a way of showcasing how reproductive health care providers have had to get creative when operating in or near states like Missouri, which borders Illinois and has a near-total abortion ban.
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Reproductive rights activists said they expect Democrats to highlight stories of women who have been denied medical care in states with strict abortion bans. Some of those women have been featured in presidential campaign ads this year. The activists also expect that Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, will talk about IVF and other fertility treatments as part of the debate over reproductive rights. Mr. Walz has said he and his wife experienced fertility issues when starting their family.
And whatever happens onstage, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, will be seeing patients inside the mobile unit (the nearby brick-and-mortar locations of Planned Parenthood Illinois will be, too).