Barely a month after the 2017 Women’s March, demonstrators again gathered for rallies and marches throughout the United States to protect federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a health care organisation which provides health, sex, reproductive and family planning education, and health care services for both women and men.

In Central Illinois, Heartland of the United States, over one thousand people came together in the twin cities.  It was a rare, if not unprecedented gathering of so many people for a cause.  There were no more than five or six counter-protesters who gathered nearby.  Demonstrators started gathering around 09:30 at the McLean County Museum of History which was cordoned off by local authorities as the crowd continued to grow ever larger.  Eventually, the organisers of the event led the demonstrators through the town centre to the Bloomington Centre for the Performing Arts where everyone gathered and listened to rally organisers, numerous speakers, and rally participants.  The rally lasted about 90 minutes and by 11:30 demonstrators began to disperse, though a few lingered longer.

About This Photograph

The above photograph was taken on N. Main St. by the McLean County Museum of History which is the site of a former courthouse that was often used by President Abraham Lincoln in his early years when he was a travelling lawyer.  It is the place where he took on some of his most important cases, which were pivotal in his legal and political development.  The timing of this photograph, perfectly captures the symbolism and representation of the event and location.