Heather Booth was a University of Chicago student seeking a doctor for a mutual friend to receive an abortion and found T.R.M. Howard, a civil rights leader running from the Ku Klux Klan. Soon, other women reached out upon hearing of Booth’s arrangement. She counseled and connected with many of them for some time.
The Jane Collective: Women's Rights in Secrecy
Birth of Jane
The Janes (2022), HBO
The Janes (2022), HBO
Once clientele grew past Booth’s abilities, she met and invited other activists to join. As a female collective, they devised a network focused on reducing panic by meeting and counseling women while providing affordable abortions through price negotiations with Howard.
"It would change voices sometimes. Then someone would pick up all the names from the tape and call the people back and collect a little bit of information on the woman- her name, address, age, phone number, how many weeks pregnant she was, if she had any medical problems, history of twins, history of bleeding- and we'd tell her how much it might cost."
Jane Member, 1988, Sojourner
They challenged the patriarchal model of medicine, prioritizing women and their knowledge about their ability to choose and their body.
Martha Scott, 2018
Diane, Jane Member, The Janes (2022), HBO
Operations