http://www.fwhc.org/jane.htm
Heather Booth, then a student at the University of Chicago involved in civil rights and antiwar movements, found herself sought out by a few young women who were pregnant, scared, and desperate. They had somehow heard that Booth knew of a safe abortionist. Soon others began to call, prompting Booth and several other young feminists to found JANE, an anonymous abortion service that provided counseling and acted as the go-between for pregnant women and doctors willing to perform the procedure.
Appalled at the exorbitant procedure fees and upon discovering that their main abortionist wasn't a licensed physician, the women of JANE learned to perform illegal abortions themselves. Eventually, the underground collective performed over 12,000 safe, affordable abortions. Word of the illegal alternative was spread through word-of-mouth, cryptic advertisements, and even by members of Chicago's police, clergy, and medical establishment.
Little remains to document the organization's clandestine existence. Most of JANE's records were destroyed to protect the participants, leaving the women themselves to tell their stories. JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE utilizes in-depth interviews, archival footage, and the few remaining personal effects to bare witness and illuminate this once-hidden refuge.
JANE was comprised of a cross-section of the political community of the early 1970s. They included members of the National Organization for Women, student activists, housewives, and mothers - a diverse group that shared one conviction – that access to safe and affordable abortion was every woman's right. Now, almost a quarter of a century later, JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE powerfully documents a group of courageous women who were willing to translate their politics into action by providing safety and dignity to women of all backgrounds.
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