By Miv Evans
WHO ARE THE JANES?
This is a documentary about a group of middle-class women who went rogue. It happened half a century ago but their clandestine activities are suddenly back in the spotlight. They’re the renegades who gave illegal abortions.
HOW IT BEGAN
It’s Chicago in the late 60s. The Baby Boomers that followed the Silent Generation are making a lot of noise. They’re campaigning for civil rights, protesting the Vietnam war and joining ranks with the Black Panthers. Amongst them is one Heather Booth, a 19-year-old sophomore. As committed an activist as she is, she becomes exasperated with the chauvinism that infests the movements she’s working so hard to support. It seems circa 60s male isn’t as enthusiastic about women’s rights as he is about his own. So when Heather steps in to arrange an illegal abortion for a desperate girl, she’s unfazed by the avalanche of identical requests that follow. Far from discouraging them, she spreads the word that anyone in need should call her dorm and use the code name ‘Jane.’ And thus Heather’s activism finds its home. When willing helpers join the crusade, the ‘Jane Collective’ is born. The girls are young and look more like ‘rock chicks’ than revolutionaries. But revolutionaries they are, changing the lives of countless, grateful women.
THE OUTLAWS
It’s the recollections of five of these women that lead this documentary through its twists and turns. The unsung heroines of the 70s are now IN their seventies and their stories are compelling. They knew they were risking life in prison but their only tales of courage are about others. Even when they got arrested, they kept going, intrepid warriors charging through with sabers rattling. With such exciting material, it’s unfortunate the filmmakers failed to recreate the drama that each day brought. It’s equally unfortunate that the tumultuous ending is casually skipped over and the ladies never get chance to bid us a final farewell.
ROE V WADE
While the Supreme Court ruminates about whether to uphold Roe v Wade, perhaps the objectors could take a look at this film. Or perhaps they already know that hospitals had to open septic abortion wards for women who arrived in agony, at death’s door. In many cases, they got wheeled straight through. But if girls and young mothers dying is of no concern, perhaps they should read the studies that claim crime nose-dives 20 years after abortion becomes legal. These studies are highly controversial, but not as controversial as America returning to the dark ages. That would be embarrassing.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Needless to say, these rogue women became highly adept at evading the law – that is, until a disgruntled bystander reported them to the police. It’s ironic that these opinionated people have nothing to say about who should pay to raise the child they insist be born. Not them for sure. They’re too busy voting for a political party that’s against universal healthcare. It seems anti-abortionists only care about fetuses. Once the kid is born, it’s on its own.
Premiered at Sundance Film Festival January, 2022
Coming to HBO in 2022
