5/10/2022
In response to the news of Roe v. Wade potentially being overturned, the McLean County Democrats (McDems) organized Show Up for Abortion Rights – BloNo Rally outside of the McLean County Museum on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022.
Speakers included almost every single Democratic candidate running for local municipal government, several currently elected center-left politicians, Carol Koos of the ACLU, representatives of Planned Parenthood, and several female pastors and a rabbi.
Reverend Dr. Jenny Bertrand of Hope United Methodist Church had this to say about the potential decision. “My call to ministry began when I was 19 years old in a dorm in Normal, IL when another 19 year old who barely knew me had to be rushed to the hospital. Because, in Illinois, she was in a community where she did not get sex-education, she found herself pregnant, and she had a back-alley abortion. She was bleeding to death. She called me and said, ‘you are the only person I know who might drop what your doing and come to the hospital to hold my hand.’ And I did, and we had to fight and advocate for her health so that she would stay alive.”
Chemburly Cummings, a member of the Normal Town Council, described why reproductive rights is personal for her. “This is personal for me. I suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome. Every woman with this knows we run the risk every time we bear children. A doctor told me many hospitals in this country, because they are anti-abortion, will not remove your child even if it is a medical emergency, even for you. Do you know what this does today? It allows more hospitals to go along with that same mindset. Men, think about your wife, and you have no choice or no say in saving her life. And they have to allow her and the unborn child to die. That is the reality. That’s my reality. And, that’s what scares me about this.”
There was one counter-protester present. A man with a megaphone, did everything in his power to disrupt the event. There were no marshals present at the event. Several pro-choice protesters engaged with him and attempted to persuade him to leave. He complained that it was wrong that documents got released, saying no one is above the law. Supreme Court documents are not confidential, and there is no law punishing a person for releasing such documents. He also complained that no one was listening to him and claimed his free speech rights were being violated by those who were attempting to convince him to leave.
District 8 County Board Member and candidate for the Vice-Chair of the McDems, Shayna Watchinski, said, “I’ve been trying to think of what I wanted to say all day. And, I can’t think of what I want to say–honestly. I think what we see here today is a perfect depiction of what we’re dealing with: one measly man’s voice is attempting to drown out every woman’s voice and every woman’s choice.”
One pro-choice protester, Sammy McCubbins, allegedly battered the counter-protester and was arrested by the Bloomington Police Department. He was released the next day on a personal recognizance bond and is facing two charges of aggravated battery. The battery is aggravated because it happened at a public event and possibly on public property.
In an interview with the counter-protester, he has paint on his face and clothes, allegedly from a painted sign hitting him. He said he was anti-choice & anti-whistleblower. While the counter-protester refused to identify himself, he is likely Seth Dickson of Galesburg. He works for an as yet unknown Sheriff’s department as either a deputy or a corrections officer. (He also counter-protested at another pro-choice rally in Peoria on Saturday, May 7th, 2022.)
During the interview, Dickson talked directly to the McCubbins family bragging how he planned to sue the elderly veteran.
