Planned Parenthood is holding a black-tie gala inside the Obama Presidential Center this month.
That building already carries a mocking nickname from the fight over its design.
Now that nickname fits the gala even better than the building.
The Irony Pro-Life Protesters Say Hope and Change Cannot Escape
Planned Parenthood Illinois Action is holding its "Fighting Forward" gala at the Obama Presidential Center's Sky Room.
The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and doubles as the group's biggest fundraiser of the fall.
Pro-Life Action League members and local pro-life advocates plan to stand outside from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Their signs read "Abortion Is Nothing to Celebrate."
Eric Scheidler leads the Pro-Life Action League.
He says the setting itself is the point.
"It's ironic that the Obama Presidential Center is hosting a Planned Parenthood fundraiser," Scheidler told LifeNews.
Obama built his entire political brand on the words "hope and change."
Scheidler says a gala for the nation's largest abortion business makes a mockery of both words.
"What could be more hopeless than offering nothing but abortion to women in need?" Scheidler asked.
"Real hope would mean encouraging her capacity to mother this child," he said.
"Real change would mean dismantling the network of pressures that make women feel that abortion is their only choice," he added.
Chicago already has a version of that hope running.
Aid for Women operates eight pregnancy care centers and two maternity homes across the Chicago area, offering free ultrasounds, pregnancy testing, and a place to live instead of an abortion referral.
That is what Scheidler means by real hope, and it does not need an $850 million building to keep the lights on.
The Numbers Behind the Gala Pro-Life Groups Call Indecent
Protesters say Planned Parenthood kills more than 43,000 babies every year at its Chicagoland abortion centers.
Planned Parenthood's latest annual report recorded 434,450 abortions nationwide, an all-time high.
That is roughly two out of every five abortions performed in the United States.
The same report counted just 3,038 adoption referrals.
That works out to more than 143 abortions for every single adoption referral.
Pro-Life Action League says those numbers are why a black-tie celebration is indecent.
Abortion is not health care, and it is not a victory for women.
It ends a child's life and often leaves the mother poorer, more isolated, and carrying regret.
Obama's Abortion Record and the 850 Million Dollar Building Already Mocked As a Monstrosity
Pro-life groups have tracked Obama's record on this issue for two decades.
As an Illinois state senator, he voted against multiple versions of a born-alive infant protection bill between 2001 and 2003.
One of those bills matched the language of the federal law he claimed he would have supported.
He voted against it anyway.
As president, he rescinded the Mexico City Policy, clearing the way for federal dollars to reach overseas abortion groups.
He also worked, more than once, to keep federal money reaching Planned Parenthood at home.
The building hosting this year's gala already has plenty of baggage attached to it.
The project was originally budgeted at $350 million. It ended up costing $850 million, nearly three times as much.
Illinois taxpayers kicked in more than $120 million more for infrastructure around it.
Critics have compared the finished building to a prison, a sci-fi bunker, and a giant trash can.
Neighbors near the site have a similar complaint about broken promises.
Rents in the area climbed as high as $2,450 a month once construction finished.
One longtime resident said the changes felt like "a washing away of the neighborhood and culture that used to be here."
Another, driven out by the rent hikes, described losing "our beautiful Black beach neighborhood."
The project also drew a racial discrimination lawsuit and left contractors fighting to get paid.
One nickname stuck more than any other: the Obamalisk.
Now the Obamalisk is hosting a party for an organization that performs more abortions each year than the population of a mid-sized American city.
Hope and change priced out a neighborhood and then invited in the nation's largest abortion business to celebrate.
Scheidler's question still stands: what changes for the woman walking into that gala's fundraising pitch, besides a lifetime of regret?
Sources:
- Steven Ertelt, "Obama Presidential Center Will Host Planned Parenthood Gala to Fund Killing Babies," LifeNews.com, September 9, 2026.
- FactCheck.org, "Obama and 'Infanticide'," FactCheck.org, August 2008.
- Fox News, "Obama center opens after years-long saga, locals warn 'monstrosity' could price them out," FoxNews.com, 2026.
- Lozier Institute, "Fact Sheet: Planned Parenthood's 2024-25 Annual Report," LozierInstitute.org.
- Aid for Women, "Locations," AidForWomen.org.
