How Did the Jane Collective Work?

When abortion was illegal throughout the U.S., it was still perfomed -- just dangerously or expensively. Learn about the Jane Collective -- an underground network that helped people access safe, affordable, illegal abortions -- in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/jane-collective.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren
Bogelbaum here. In nineteen sixty five, Heather Booth became the
first Jane. Then a student at the University of Chicago,
Booth helped a friend's sister find a safe abortion at

(00:21):
a time when the practice was illegal in every state.
Her work sparked a movement and a group that became
known as the Jane Collective. For the article this episode
is based on How Stuff Works, spoke with Rainy Horowitz, MD,
currently a resident at the Emory University Medical School. She
explained that before Roe v. Wade was passed in nineteen

(00:44):
seventy three a quote getting a safe abortion was not
something that was easy or accessible. This was pre medication abortion,
when only surgical abortion was available. Because those abortions had
to happen illicitly, the level of care provided could vary.
Some of the practitioners were, Horowitz said, these kinds of sketchy, underground,

(01:07):
poorly trained, just trying to make a quick buck abortionists.
There were also licensed trained physicians who were doing abortions
very secretly for a larger amount of money. People seeking
abortions at this time or attempting to perform one themselves
were putting their lives at risk. In nineteen sixty five,
as Booth began connecting more people with grassroots care, a

(01:31):
legal abortion accounted for almost one fifth of all pregnancy
and childbirth related deaths that were officially reported as such,
the actual number was probably higher. Around the Chicago area,
college students and other women who couldn't afford a steep
fee for their safety turned to the budding Jane Collective.

(01:51):
It was called up because Jane was a very every
woman's sort of name. The collective posted flyers and ads
that read pregnant Don't want to be called Jane. Horwitz said.
They would advertise in underground newspapers and by word of
mouth and give you a contact number that you could call,
essentially a hotline, and ask for Jane. They would counsel

(02:14):
you about this unwanted pregnancy and give you the option
of coming to obtain an abortion that was at a
much more reasonable price. Secrecy was important because this was
in a pre rov Weighe time where getting an abortion
was extremely illegal impunishable by the law. To ensure that
secrecy and protect the privacy of everyone involved, the operation

(02:37):
had a number of clandestine elements. Horowitz explained, they would
have the patients come to a location that they called
the Front, which was an apartment where they would check
you in and family could wait. The patient would then
be transported to a second location. Horwitz said that really
added another layer of security, because should the front get

(02:58):
rated by police, the location where the woman was actually
getting the procedure would be somewhere else. At first, the
Janes acted as go betweens, connecting women with doctors who
were willing to perform abortions, but soon they began receiving
training to perform the procedure themselves. Horowitz said what was

(03:19):
unique about the jain collective is that they utilized people
who were not formally medically trained and gave them training
with a doctor who knew how to do abortions, like
an obstetrician or gynecologist. They would teach them how to
do proper sanitary abortions because it's really a pretty simple
technique and can be taught to people without a formal
medical degree. That allowed the Jaines to help even more

(03:44):
women and lower the cost of the procedure from five
hundred dollars to one hundred dollars. Still, it was a
risky enterprise. In nineteen seventy two, seven Janes were arrested
and charged. They faced years in prison, but the charges
were dropped when Roe v. Wade was decided in nineteen
seventy three, before the Janes went to trial. During the

(04:06):
course of the collective from its official inception in nineteen
sixty nine through its dissolution after Roe v. Wade, around
one hundred and thirty members helped provide eleven thousand safe
but illegal abortions. In many ways, things are very different
for women seeking reproductive care today. Researchers developed medication based

(04:28):
abortion in the nineteen eighties, and in the US the
Food and Drug Administration approved it in the year two thousand.
Unlike these surgical or procedural options that were available in
the nineteen sixties, medication abortion can be managed virtually. That is,
the pills can be mailed, the patient doesn't need to
meet the prescribing health care provider in person. Over four

(04:52):
decades of study, scientific evidence has shown medication abortion to
be both effective and safe in the overwhelming majority of casees,
even self managed ones. In twenty twenty two, the Supreme
Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, Women's Health Organization reversed
the national Roe v. Wade ruling, and abortion access is

(05:14):
now restricted again in many states and is banned in
thirteen as of February of twenty twenty six for residents
of these states. Obtaining an abortion by traveling to a
state where it's legally provided is not a crime, but
it can be difficult and there can be legal risks.

(05:34):
So the Jane's work to get healthcare to every woman
who needs it continues today. Horwitz said the ways that
people are connecting and informing themselves about abortion now are
through social media instead of the word of mouth and
underground magazine route the Jaines used in the early nineteen seventies.

(05:54):
But advocacy groups are still doing a great job at
spreading the word about why this is such an issue.
If you'd like to learn more about the jain collective,
a former Jane by the name of Laura Kaplan published
a book about it in nineteen ninety seven called The
Story of Jane, The Legendary underground Feminist Abortion Service. There's

(06:14):
also a feature link documentary called The Janes from twenty
twenty two, directed by Oscar nominated filmmakers t Lessen and
Emma Pildas, and a historical drama called Call Jane from
the same year featuring Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver. Horowitz
said history informs and sometimes guides the present, but our

(06:35):
past informs our future. It is definitely important for us
to reflect on how things have been historically to try
not to make the same mistakes as in the past.
If you'd like to learn more about how to access
and support legal reproductive healthcare, the websites abortionfinder dot org
and repro Legalhelpline dot org both have a lot of

(06:59):
information and resources. Today's episode is based on the article
when abortion was illegal Women turned to the Jaine Collective
on how stuffworks dot com, written by Kate Morgan. Brain
Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks
dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klain. For more

(07:20):
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or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.