Spirited, rhythmic chants fill the air as drums and cymbals ring through the crowd. On Jan. 18, thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of D.C. holding signs reading “No one is free until we’re all free,” “Keep your politics out of my uterus” and “Climate action now.”

The Women’s March organization arranged the march to protest many conservative policies and President Donald Trump. The march began in three locations — Farragut Square, Franklin Park and McPherson Square — and ended at the Lincoln Memorial, where demonstrators gathered to hear inspirational speakers, discuss political issues and voice hopes for future legislation. The Women’s March organization was founded in January 2017 when the first Women’s March took place after Trump’s 2017 inauguration.

The phrase, “My body, my choice,” was among the most frequent chants made by marchers during the 2025 event. Demonstrators protested the 2022 Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which returned the power to regulate abortion to state legislatures.

Meredith, a nurse who attended the march, said she’s seen many patients traveling across state lines due to recent abortion bans. Her hospital receives many women who come in with incomplete miscarriages, needing a surgical procedure called dilation and curettage, she said. 

“A lot of states are not able to offer those services because physicians are unsure how they can even treat it with the ban that’s in place,” Meredith said. “They don’t want to overstep boundaries and lose their license. So we have women that are being turned away for these services, sent home and being left to die in their houses, in their cars.”

Many demonstrators held signs and posters supporting abortion and the pro-choice movement rights. One protester held a sign reading, “If you think a clump of cells deserves human rights but not undocumented, Palestinian and trans people … you are not pro-life.” Other signs read, “Keep abortion legal,” “Safe abortion is a human right” and “Bans off our bodies.”

Protestor Stacy said she believes women and trans people should have full control over their health care. 

“I feel the same thing about trans people,” she said. “It’s their bodies, and they should be able to do with their bodies what they choose, and religion needs to stay out of our politics.”

Protestor Roseanne said she primarily attended the march to support women’s rights. Society has gone backward, with Americans electing men who have sexually assaulted women into the highest positions of power, she said. 

 “I hope that people continue to stand up,” Roseanne said. “I hope that every woman, no matter how old, will speak so that we stop enabling the patriarchy with our silence.” 

People’s March volunteer Shayna said her foremost reason for attending the march was to protect her daughter’s rights. Shayna has been a part of the Women’s March organization for a few years and said she values any opportunity to support women’s rights.

Maryland Senator Sara Love has worked in the women’s rights field for the majority of her career. Before becoming a senator, she worked on First Amendment rights, privacy issues and criminal justice reform as the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. Love also served as General Counsel and legal director for Reproductive Freedom For All, a national reproductive rights group. The Dobbs decision devastated her, Love said. 

“I was sickened, absolutely sickened, on a number of levels: on a human level, because I knew what that would mean for so many people because I have been in this field long enough, to see what happens when people don’t get the health care they need,” Love said. “I was sickened as a lawyer because I read the Dobbs decision, and it is the most intellectually dishonest opinion I have ever read.”

As the demonstration went on, people chanted, “Two, four, six, eight, separate the church and state,” and “No KKK, no fascist USA, no Trump.” Aside from women’s rights, protestors at the march heavily advocated for LQBTQ+ rights and climate change action. Many demonstrators held the LGBTQ+ and transgender flags during the march. Protestors held signs reading, “LQBTQIA+ Equality,” “Love is stronger than hate,” “Trans rights are human rights,” and “Protect trans youth.”

Protestor Penny said that global warming, greenhouse gasses and loss of biodiversity are her greatest concerns. Earth’s destruction is the one thing humanity can’t recover from, she said.

“I hope that people will realize that we are not powerless,” Penny said. “We don’t know what we can do unless we try, and we might be able to save more than we think. We can all do something, and together, we might be able to do much more than we imagine.”

 Other focuses of the demonstration included immigration rights, anti-Trump sentiment and Palestinian rights.

The march culminated at the Lincoln Memorial, where several individuals presented speeches. Judith Browne Diani, Executive Director for the Advancement Project — a nonprofit organization focusing on racial justice  — addressed the importance of public education in her speech. 

“Public education is one of the last public goods in our country,” Diani said in her address. “It is critical to the liberation of our people, and that’s why it is under attack. In place of freedom, the Trump administration wants control. They want to use our tax dollars for vouchers to line the pockets of billionaires.”

Towards the end of the march, The Dream Defenders People’s Choir performed “Anthem” by Leonard Cohen. Airika Cross, the choir’s director, said she hopes to spark change by transforming hearts and minds through music.

“I would hope that we live in a world where we can truly be free,” she said. “I mean the freedom to express ourselves and to not constantly live in survival mode, to travel where we want, to love who we want, to learn what we want, to do what we want and to not be pressed upon by society’s systems.”