Georgians travel to Washington for march protesting second Trump term

Tia Mitchell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 18, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Most of the people flying from Georgia to Washington this weekend were coming to celebrate Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Sarah Sheehan was in town to protest it.

The Griffin resident met up with her mother and her mother’s co-worker, two nurses who traveled from Oregon. Together, the three of them participated with thousands of others in what was dubbed the People’s March Saturday morning.

“It’s definitely time to be heard,” she said about her decision to make the trip.

Sheehan marched with a sign she created to highlight the story of a Georgia woman who died from abortion-related complications in the weeks after the state’s anti-abortion law took effect. A review by the state’s maternal mortality review board determined Amber Thurman’s death was preventable, according to a report from the nonprofit news outlet ProPublica.

“Your ignorance is killing us! Ask me about Amber Thurman,” it said.

Sheehan said she was touched by Thurman’s story because it made real to her the consequences of Georgia’s strict abortion law, which restricts the procedure for many women as early as six weeks, before many know they’re pregnant. Thurman died in August 2022 following a 20-hour wait for treatment at a metro Atlanta hospital after traveling to North Carolina to get a medication abortion.

“This was a woman that deserved freedom of choice,” Sheehan said. “And when she returned back to Georgia, she was denied health care. And she was an avoidable death.”

Sheehan’s mother’s sign also signaled support for reproductive rights, but her co-worker had chosen another topic. His said, “Marching for the women and girls of Palestine.”

Nearly every progressive and social justice message was reflected in the People’s March, organized by roughly a dozen left-leaning organizations like the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood. The march began on Saturday with multiple launch points, with participants joining together to march to the Lincoln Memorial for keynote speeches.

The march stretched for several city blocks as participants chanted messages ranging from “Black lives matter” to “Stop deportations now.”

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, an Atlanta-based abortion rights group, was among the organizers. Monica Simpson, the group’s executive director, was expected to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

Members of the group passed black and white “Trust Black women” signs along the route.

Simpson helped lead the march, standing front and center behind a white banner with green letters spelling out the slogan: “We make our future.”