Matthew Kaplan Photography

Protest Against "Aid for Women" Fundraiser at the Union League Club Chicago - 9/28/22

Founded in 1879, the Union League Club of Chicago has long been one of the city's most prestigious civic and social organizations. On Wednesday evening, abortion rights demonstrators from the group Reproductive Transparency Now (RTN), picketed the club's stately building on Jackson Boulevard, protesting a fund raiser being held there for the organization Aid for Women.

According to RTN, Aid for Women runs a chain of anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy centers" in the Chicago area, which spread medical misinformation about abortion, as well as telling unsuspecting people looking for abortion care "untrue statements about abortion, adoption, and sexual help."

They also promote the "abortion pill reversal" procedure, described as "unproven and unethical" by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

"We are protesting not only Aid for Women, but also the Union League Club for hosting this shameful event!".

Some folks from the fundraiser engaged with the chanting protestors, others hurried inside.

A women in blue tried to explain that "I'm not against abortion. I'm for women who... who need healthcare and need help for their babies..."

Protestors interrupted her with "Aid for Women does not provide healthcare, and that's a fact!"

She continued to explain that Aid for Women really is trying to help people take their babies to term, "I've been to Wheeling to see the center. I saw the diapers, the baby formula, the doctors..."

A protestor answered "all that stuff is great. But what we don't need is organizations lying to people."

In 2018, an article in the AMA Journal of Ethics described crisis pregnancy centers as legal but unethical, saying "their propagation of misinformation should be regarded as an ethical violation that undermines women’s health".

Ending the protest, organizers urged supporters of women's reproductive rights to join them in Federal Plaza at noon on Saturday October 8th, for a nationwide "Abortion and Reproductive Rights National Day of Action".