“The Janes”: Meet the Women Who Formed a Collective to Provide Safe Abortions Before Roe v. Wade

As conservative justices on the Supreme Court threaten to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortions nationwide, Democracy Now! speaks to the filmmakers and a subject of “The Janes” about life before Roe when a collective of women in Chicago built an underground service for women seeking an abortion.

Heather Booth, who founded the Jane Collective as a college student, speaks about adopting lessons from the civil rights movement and antiwar sentiments of the time. “You have to stand up to illegitimate authority,” says Booth. The directors of the film, Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin, speak about their motivation to encourage others to take action in the face of human rights under threat.

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