Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren
Speaker 1: Bogelbaum here. In nineteen sixty five, Heather Booth became the
Speaker 1: first Jane. Then a student at the University of Chicago,
Speaker 1: Booth helped a friend's sister find a safe abortion at
Speaker 1: a time when the practice was illegal in every state.
Speaker 1: Her work sparked a movement and a group that became
Speaker 1: known as the Jane Collective. For the article this episode
Speaker 1: is based on How Stuff Works, spoke with Rainy Horowitz, MD,
Speaker 1: currently a resident at the Emory University Medical School. She
Speaker 1: explained that before Roe v. Wade was passed in nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy three a quote getting a safe abortion was not
Speaker 1: something that was easy or accessible. This was pre medication abortion,
Speaker 1: when only surgical abortion was available. Because those abortions had
Speaker 1: to happen illicitly, the level of care provided could vary.
Speaker 1: Some of the practitioners were, Horowitz said, these kinds of sketchy, underground,
Speaker 1: poorly trained, just trying to make a quick buck abortionists.
Speaker 1: There were also licensed trained physicians who were doing abortions
Speaker 1: very secretly for a larger amount of money. People seeking
Speaker 1: abortions at this time or attempting to perform one themselves
Speaker 1: were putting their lives at risk. In nineteen sixty five,
Speaker 1: as Booth began connecting more people with grassroots care, a
Speaker 1: legal abortion accounted for almost one fifth of all pregnancy
Speaker 1: and childbirth related deaths that were officially reported as such,
Speaker 1: the actual number was probably higher. Around the Chicago area,
Speaker 1: college students and other women who couldn't afford a steep
Speaker 1: fee for their safety turned to the budding Jane Collective.
Speaker 1: It was called up because Jane was a very every
Speaker 1: woman's sort of name. The collective posted flyers and ads
Speaker 1: that read pregnant Don't want to be called Jane. Horwitz said.
Speaker 1: They would advertise in underground newspapers and by word of
Speaker 1: mouth and give you a contact number that you could call,
Speaker 1: essentially a hotline, and ask for Jane. They would counsel
Speaker 1: you about this unwanted pregnancy and give you the option
Speaker 1: of coming to obtain an abortion that was at a
Speaker 1: much more reasonable price. Secrecy was important because this was
Speaker 1: in a pre rov Weighe time where getting an abortion
Speaker 1: was extremely illegal impunishable by the law. To ensure that
Speaker 1: secrecy and protect the privacy of everyone involved, the operation
Speaker 1: had a number of clandestine elements. Horowitz explained, they would
Speaker 1: have the patients come to a location that they called
Speaker 1: the Front, which was an apartment where they would check
Speaker 1: you in and family could wait. The patient would then
Speaker 1: be transported to a second location. Horwitz said that really
Speaker 1: added another layer of security, because should the front get
Speaker 1: rated by police, the location where the woman was actually
Speaker 1: getting the procedure would be somewhere else. At first, the
Speaker 1: Janes acted as go betweens, connecting women with doctors who
Speaker 1: were willing to perform abortions, but soon they began receiving
Speaker 1: training to perform the procedure themselves. Horowitz said what was
Speaker 1: unique about the jain collective is that they utilized people
Speaker 1: who were not formally medically trained and gave them training
Speaker 1: with a doctor who knew how to do abortions, like
Speaker 1: an obstetrician or gynecologist. They would teach them how to
Speaker 1: do proper sanitary abortions because it's really a pretty simple
Speaker 1: technique and can be taught to people without a formal
Speaker 1: medical degree. That allowed the Jaines to help even more
Speaker 1: women and lower the cost of the procedure from five
Speaker 1: hundred dollars to one hundred dollars. Still, it was a
Speaker 1: risky enterprise. In nineteen seventy two, seven Janes were arrested
Speaker 1: and charged. They faced years in prison, but the charges
Speaker 1: were dropped when Roe v. Wade was decided in nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy three, before the Janes went to trial. During the
Speaker 1: course of the collective from its official inception in nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty nine through its dissolution after Roe v. Wade, around
Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty members helped provide eleven thousand safe
Speaker 1: but illegal abortions. In many ways, things are very different
Speaker 1: for women seeking reproductive care today. Researchers developed medication based
Speaker 1: abortion in the nineteen eighties, and in the US the
Speaker 1: Food and Drug Administration approved it in the year two thousand.
Speaker 1: Unlike these surgical or procedural options that were available in
Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties, medication abortion can be managed virtually. That is,
Speaker 1: the pills can be mailed, the patient doesn't need to
Speaker 1: meet the prescribing health care provider in person. Over four
Speaker 1: decades of study, scientific evidence has shown medication abortion to
Speaker 1: be both effective and safe in the overwhelming majority of casees,
Speaker 1: even self managed ones. In twenty twenty two, the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, Women's Health Organization reversed
Speaker 1: the national Roe v. Wade ruling, and abortion access is
Speaker 1: now restricted again in many states and is banned in
Speaker 1: thirteen as of February of twenty twenty six for residents
Speaker 1: of these states. Obtaining an abortion by traveling to a
Speaker 1: state where it's legally provided is not a crime, but
Speaker 1: it can be difficult and there can be legal risks.
Speaker 1: So the Jane's work to get healthcare to every woman
Speaker 1: who needs it continues today. Horwitz said the ways that
Speaker 1: people are connecting and informing themselves about abortion now are
Speaker 1: through social media instead of the word of mouth and
Speaker 1: underground magazine route the Jaines used in the early nineteen seventies.
Speaker 1: But advocacy groups are still doing a great job at
Speaker 1: spreading the word about why this is such an issue.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to learn more about the jain collective,
Speaker 1: a former Jane by the name of Laura Kaplan published
Speaker 1: a book about it in nineteen ninety seven called The
Speaker 1: Story of Jane, The Legendary underground Feminist Abortion Service. There's
Speaker 1: also a feature link documentary called The Janes from twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two, directed by Oscar nominated filmmakers t Lessen and
Speaker 1: Emma Pildas, and a historical drama called Call Jane from
Speaker 1: the same year featuring Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver. Horowitz
Speaker 1: said history informs and sometimes guides the present, but our
Speaker 1: past informs our future. It is definitely important for us
Speaker 1: to reflect on how things have been historically to try
Speaker 1: not to make the same mistakes as in the past.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to learn more about how to access
Speaker 1: and support legal reproductive healthcare, the websites abortionfinder dot org
Speaker 1: and repro Legalhelpline dot org both have a lot of
Speaker 1: information and resources. Today's episode is based on the article
Speaker 1: when abortion was illegal Women turned to the Jaine Collective
Speaker 1: on how stuffworks dot com, written by Kate Morgan. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks
Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klain. For more
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