The Jane Collective was able to provide thousands with reproductive care, including basic gynecological care such as pap smears, which women couldn’t get otherwise. In creating places that starkly contrasted the abandoned motels and alleyways women pursued previously, they encouraged the women of Chicago to assert their rights through safe abortions, reporting no mortalities over the course of their existence.
The Jane Collective: Women's Rights in Secrecy
The Reproductive Health Crisis
Jane: An Abortion Service (1996), Movie Poster
"Members of the group carried out an estimated 11,000 abortions, never refusing a woman who couldn’t pay."
Marcia Froelke Coburn, 2019, Chicago Magazine
Sojourner, 1988
Inspired by the civil rights movement they were involved in, they gathered in protests to demand the protection of a right that was so innate to them as women that their lives depended on it.
Emerging when the Second Wave feminist movement was still growing and by assuming direct responsibility for combatting the reproductive health crisis, the women behind Jane were empowered to gather in other forms of collective action.
The Janes (2022), HBO
The Janes (2022), HBO
"By taking responsibility, we became responsible. Most of us grew stronger, more self-assured, confident in our own abilities. In picking up the tools of our own liberation, in our case medical instruments, we broke a powerful taboo."
Laura Kaplan, 1995, The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service
Jane’s abortion service allowed, for once, for women to be in control of their lives and bodies both mentally and financially, demonstrating an adamant commitment to both the abortion network and every woman they helped. The Janes challenged the status quo of male doctors taking advantage of desperation and instead created a community women trusted through a service that was by women, for women.