Some were anti-war activists or women's lib members, some were homemakers and at least one was a nun. Before there was Roe V. Wade, there was Jane, and the HBO documentary The Janes (on Crave in Canada at 9:00 p.m. - Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director, Florida HistoricalSociety, - Stacy Braukman, author of Communists and Perverts under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida,1956-1965. The Florida Orange Growers Association, UCF Burnett Honors College We were done. Beginning in June 2016, the film will be broadcast on more than 70 local public television stations through the American Public Television Exchange, via presenting station WUSF-TV. Word spread, and by 1968 Booth realized she needed more help to continue her referral service. Featuring two of the victims and one interrogator, the film exposes the committees subversive activities and how its effects are still felt today. The group helped an estimated 11,000 women in Chicago get access to safe, affordable abortions in the late 1960s and early 70s. Lets hope that incites us to action, and not to despair. And how they are designed, to maintain the white-supremacist patriarchy, means that they will continue to harm and criminalize women, queer and trans and racially marginalized people no matter what the law says. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, was tapped last year to lead the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, an issue he said is in my face every single day in his southwestern Connecticut district home to one of the nations highest concentrations of millionaires and some of its most economically distressed communities. Abortion: Stories Women Tell directed by Tracy Droz Tragos, documents what women at an Illinois abortion clinic were experiencing when Missouri legislators passed the extreme law mandating anin-person informed consent process and a mandatory72-hourwaiting period between the time you sign your consent and your procedure. As media typically displays and argues abortion is for careless young women, this documentary depicts how those in need of abortion range in age, race, motivation and marital status. Before Roe v. Wade, a secret group provided abortions. Trump documentary maker says he now has 2 armed guards for protection after he gave evidence to January 6 committee Joshua Zitser and Bethany Dawson Jul 2, 2022, 6:06 AM Documentary maker. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. ARCANA: I think that folks who watch this film will be prompted to ask themselves, what would I do? Marcie Bianco is a writer and editor based in California. Signatories in the letter list prior actions from the UN Human Rights Committees over abortion access in countries such as Ireland and El Salvador, arguing for similar scrutiny of the US. Do you understand that? Nelson A. Rockefeller signs a bill repealing the state's 1830 law that banned abortion after quickening except to save a woman's life. Roe v. Wade Appears Poised to Fall. For years, illegitimate authorities have been chipping away, state by state, rule by rule, impacting women's lives on the most intimate decision of our life. Jane was born first as a continuation of Booths referral service, and then as a counseling service. Lie back and do as I tell you. Two forthcoming films based on the collective Amazon Studios This Is Jane, starring Michelle Williams, and Roadside Attractions Call Jane, starring Elizabeth Banks, come out later this year in addition to the 2018 feature film Ask for Jane.. Many of them hadnt even told the stories to their families or their friends, so this was a big move for them, Lessin said. Jane filled the vacuum. A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. . The Jane group evaded law enforcement until seven Janes were arrested in 1972. We tried to do it with as much respect and understanding as we could.. Directors: Erik Cieslewicz, Brooke Sperry | Stars: Dino Corvino, Liz Hayes, Chrystina Head, Frances Irwin 9. January 28, 20223:00 PM ET. The US must be castigated on the world stage for its treatment of women, girls and others who can become pregnant the scale and intensity of human rights violations that the US is inflicting on its population are near unfathomable at this point, said Christine Ryan, legal director of the Global Justice Center, in a phone interview. the committee documentary abortionthe renaissance apartments chicago. Rev. AMY SIMPSON, UCF College of Arts & Humanities Web Team, LOU ELLEN KRAMER SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, Photo from The New York Times, July 2, 1969. None of the participants would change their minds, but the dialogues changed their lives. We came together to do something at a time when it was most needed, collective member Laura Kaplan said at the documentarys conclusion. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As a result of the Johns Committees efforts, more than 200 gay and lesbian students and teachers were expelled or fired. Educational DVDs of The Abortion Divideare available from ShopPBS for Teachers. The 8-5 vote along party lines in the House Judiciary Committee came shortly before a Senate Health Policy Committee also voted Wednesday to repeal longstanding Michigan abortion policies. Won an Emmy award for his abortion documentary "The Committee" in 1971 only one year after he left his advertising business and established Cusack Productions. These documentaries offer context on how America reached this moment. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. She reached out to women at various activist meetings and, quickly, dozens of women joined her. He explained exactly what he was doing. Emphasized again and again is the message that we cannot rely on antiquated laws propping up white-supremacist patriarchal institutions to support or care for us. UCF Office of Instructional Resources When the decision was delivered on Jan. 22, 1973, legalizing abortion throughout the United States, Wolfson quickly petitioned the district attorney, and all charges were dropped. For decades, underground networksaround the world from El Salvador to Poland to Mexico to right here in the United States have been and are assisting pregnant people obtain the abortion care that they need. Explore FRONTLINEs collected and ongoing reporting on Russia's war on Ukraine. Rebecca Hodges We'll help you. When someone suggested Parker, Himes said, I was a little concerned initially that people would see it and say, What in the world is Carrie Bradshaw doing in this documentary? referring to her character in the long-running HBO series Sex and the City. But, he said, She does a wonderful job of telling her own story, and its a remarkable story.. KATHRYN PAULSON Home Video DVDs of The Abortion Divideare available from ShopPBS. The 1960s, culturally, was rooted in the belief that we are the change we seek, and that radical societal change was possible. snoopy happy dance emoji 8959 norma pl west hollywood ca 90069 8959 norma pl west hollywood ca 90069 Directed by Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes, this film spotlights the Chicago-based underground abortion network called The Jane Collective. Rather, to invoke Ijeoma Oluo, they are working according to their design. So, Mike trained the Janes to perform abortions themselves. Esposito, a web application developer for a tech company, presented emotional testimony before the committee in support of Senate Bill 798, which seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution, if approved by voters in 2024. No women whom Jane served are known to have died from their abortions. Howard agreed to help the friends sister and continued to perform abortion services for women who came to Booth for assistance until she lost touch with him. 4. In the ward at the former Cook County Hospital in Chicago, now John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, death was a common occurrence, according to a 2019 BuzzFeed essay written by Allan Weiland, who worked in the ward as a medical student and appears in The Janes.. Film Program in the School of Visual Arts and Design A decade after Roe v. Wade, FRONTLINE visited an abortion clinic in Pennsylvania, covering the conflict over reproductive rights like never before on American television. Now, the American Medical Association is fighting back. But for what it's worth, I didn't ask how often or when at all it might happen. FRED FEJES The development of medication abortion has vastly changed the landscape. All rights reserved. Lets hope it incites us to action, and not to despair. The collectives origin story is not unlike the origin stories of other movements: A call for help catalyzes an action, which results in another related action, and another. The Labrant family's YouTube documentary on abortion was met with immediate contempt on social media. Dont want to be? Since its first season in 1983, FRONTLINE has been covering the battle over abortion at both the national and state levels. & Sepp Seitz Sepp Seitz. The Supreme Courts Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a womans federal right to an abortion; nearly 50 years later, Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land. Himes said he consulted friends who work in television for advice on who should narrate the piece. They spoke all of three sentences to me the entire time. Screenings come with free resources, including the official ABORTION TALKS dialogue guide by Essential Partners. Call Jane.. Get in the bathroom. Members were able to set up a much more compassionate setting that was respectful to women, she said. I was just laying there trying to, you know, get my breath, and I knew I was bleeding. Howard, a Black surgeon and civil rights leader who had recently moved to Chicago after receiving death threats from the KKK for speaking out about Emmett Tills murder. In 1994, John Salvi, a radical young abortion opponent, opened fire on two clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, and killed two women: Shannon Lowney, a receptionist at Planned Parenthood, and Lee Ann Nichols, who worked as a receptionist at PreTerm, the clinic down the street. But The Janes is so much more than a mere history lesson. SYLVANA FERNNDEZ Especially now. (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images). Two new films tell the story. Inspired by Depression-era photographer Walker Evans whose iconic work documented rural poverty on behalf of the Interior and Agriculture departments the committee assigned itself some creative extra credit: producing a documentary movie. April 23 and August 27, 2019 Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes wish their new HBO documentary, The Janes about a group of Chicago women who covertly helped thousands safely obtain abortions in the late . Directed by Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes, this film spotlights the Chicago-based underground abortion network called The Jane Collective. "The Janes" is streaming on HBO Max. Used by permission, Cover From Newsweek, June 6,1977, IBT MEDIA And then it was time to do something else. DEL BARCO: Then they'd move to another Jane's home, what they called the place. There's reason for people on opposing sides of abortion to talk, even if they disagree Kate Isaacs, Excellent, important, timely, urgent and needs to be seen and discussed widely Peter Coleman, Founding Executive Director of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at The Earth Institute at Columbia University and author of. Vessel premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2014, winning the Audience Award for Documentary in Competition and a Special Jury Award for Political Courage. FRONTLINEs latest documentary, "The Abortion Divide," paints a portrait of the complicated, personal issues surrounding abortion. Of course it felt complicated, Peaches, a white woman in the collective, observed. Signatories in the letter list prior actions from the UN Human Rights Committee's over abortion . Connecticut Gov. The class sought out interviews with experts who could speak with authority on the Johns Committee or the current state of LGBTQ affairs in the state of Florida. Access to postabortion contraception. Nicki Nichols Gamble (top row, right) was the President of Planned Parenthood League of MA at the time of the clinic shootings and throughout the six yearlong dialogues. How, despite "Roe v. Wade," anti-abortion advocates successfully led campaigns to pass multiple state laws limiting access to abortion with efforts in Miss. Click here to download the complete press kit. DEL BARCO: Booth gathered an underground collective of women who called themselves Jane. IE 11 is not supported. The committee was tasked with producing a report with policy recommendations, but Himes wanted to go further than that. daniel@whatisessential.org Almost daily, the Reproductive Health Services clinic in Montgomery, Alabama, receives several versions of the same call: Are yall still doing abortions?". The Fight For Women's Bodies Contains some upsetting scenes. In fall 2011, professors Robert Cassanello and Lisa Mills taught an Advanced Documentary Workshop class at the University of Central Florida. FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. The House Oversight and Reform hearing came a day after the Senate Judiciary Committee held a similar hearing on the legal ramifications of a controversial Texas law. Students were required to read And They Were Wonderful Teachers, a book by Karen Graves, Ph.D., about the Johns Committees persecution of public school teachers. BOOTH: I'm hoping that it's actually a call to action. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Seven of the women were arrested in a police raid with charges of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion in 1972, just before the historic Supreme Court decision. And many private . Booth had the previous year participated in the Freedom Summer Project in Mississippi, and says she learned "that sometimes you have to stand up to illegitimate authority, and sometimes there are unjust laws that need to be challenged.. used by permission and protected by the JOHN TILESTON 3 min read The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a woman's federal. Could I help her find someone to arrange for an abortion? To help you learn more about the history behind this courts contentious ruling, TheWrap has gathered five essential documentaries to watch. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., speaks during the pro-abortion rights rally at the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge in downtown Westport, Conn. Sunday, May 8, 2022. Their work dramatically changed when Mike the man who had been performing the procedures after Howard, and who, unbeknownst to some of the Janes, was not a medically licensed physician decided that he didnt want to do it anymore. So we thought, we can be of use. On Sept. 1, the state . New HBO doc The Janes offers a preview of a post-Roe future by looking to the past, The Janes, a new documentary premiering on HBO, New documentary tells story of a secret all-women group who provided safe abortions before Roe, Support for legal abortion now at its highest point ever, polling shows. That feminist history is the subject of The Janes, an HBO documentary set to premiere on the network and begin streaming on HBO Max at 9 p.m. 11: New York allows abortion on demand up to the 24th week of pregnancy, as Gov. Here are two documentaries that offer context to the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion. These abuses lie firmly at the Biden administrations door, added Ryan from the Global Justice Center. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Essential Partners is a 501(c)3 organization, 2016-2023 Essential Partners |Site Credits. The documentaries below follow doctors, patients, plaintiffs and protesters through periods when politicians on both side of the aisle fought to either maintain or dismantle the Roe v. Wade verdict all these years later. JUDITH ARCANA: Women did awful things out of fear and desperation. You can always mobilize to help one another, you can organize, and ultimately thats what matters most, Pildes said. The documentary also reported on the increase in clinic invasions and threats. ET June 8), takes you inside an underground network of women providing access to affordable, safe and illegal abortions in Chicago, in the 1960s and 1970s. Saturday, June 24 at 7:30pm. Click here to find a screening in your area. In the 2020 documentary AKA Jane Roe, the original anonymous plaintiff of Roe v. Wade, now known to be Norma McCorvey, speaks out about her 1995 decision to condemn abortion. Vessel is Rebecca's story: one of a woman who heard and answered a calling, and transformed a wildly improbable idea into a global movement. Nobody wants to spend an hour on [Interstate] 95. In the letter, the signatories ask recipients to communicate with the US about these violations, to request an official visit to the US, and to ask the country to comply with its obligations under international law as a UN member state. The film was released theatrically in New York . Both projects wrapped up this month. The Idaho House State Affairs Committee moved forward a bill on Friday that would make it a felony crime to transport or recruit a minor for an abortion without parental consent. BOISE The Idaho House State Affairs Committee passed a bill Friday making it illegal for an adult to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, with the intent to conceal it from . It chronicles the real-life story of a group of women who helped those seeking abortions in Chicago more than 50 years ago. The experience would forever change how they speak to and about each other. "We went old school to find one of the . The assurance, the trust, the respect I got when I tell you they changed my life, they changed my life., She added, holding back tears, When I saw women caring about women it was a whole new world for me., The Jane Collective is estimated to have provided around 11,000 abortions from 1969 to 1973. But for those who remained, as Jane member Judith Arcana put it, if he could do it, we could do it medical degree be damned. Taking the lead in the red state race to make The Handmaid's Tale a documentary, South Carolina Republicans have introduced a bill that would impose the death penalty on women who get abortions. The documentary begins with a cautionary tale. Same-sex marriage became legal in Florida in January, 2015. DEL BARCO: The film shows how the Jane Collective was different. This story was originally published by Idaho Reports on March 3, 2023. Seven Janes were arrested, along with the clientele in the apartment. Will they matter? Click here to find a screening in your area. Members of the public gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 2, 2022, after a leaked draft majority opinion signaled the likely end of Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of abortion law. So we had about over 100 counts of felony homicide against us, each of us. The films stories of womens desperation are haunting and ominous. You know, Netflix or HBO isnt going to distribute it, but were hoping that there will be continued interest in showing it around the country., Jim Himes-led committee releases documentary on economic disparity, Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media, 2023 Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC, New Milford aids The Silo nonprofit with $107K facilities upgrade, Stratford resident stunned by earthquake destruction in Turkey, In Photos: African-based food tasting event held in New Canaan, Greenwich parking an obstacle to outdoor dining's return, Arming guidance counselors? The institutions that serve us are not broken they are working according to their design. BOB GRAHAM The House State Affairs Committee passed a bill making it illegal for an adult to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, with the intent to conceal it from the parents or guardians . "I wanted it over with and I didn't . Pregnant women seeking abortions in Chicago had few options before 1973, when the Supreme Court codified the right to have an abortion in Roe v. Wade. Some women left the collective because they felt both personally betrayed and that they had betrayed the women they counseled. Drawing on a landmark FRONTLINE film from the 1980s, the documentary takes a look at both sides of the abortion divide in a community still embroiled in the conflict. The law was rendered unconstitutional after the passage of Proposal 3 in November. ET Wednesday, featuring the voices of more than a dozen former members of the group, informally known as Jane, who recount their experiences helping women get access to abortions when they were illegal. FLORIDA MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVES, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, SMATHERS LIBRARY SPECIAL AND AREA STUDIES COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA Judith Arcana was one of them. Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. It was updated to reflect the correct year. You need an abortion. They would begin to engage in more cross-partisan efforts. The film's stories of women's desperation are haunting . The students, with backgrounds in English, accounting, journalism, computer engineering, art, and radio/TV production, were assigned into production teams where they would best be able to use their abilities. Anita Bryant "I Believe" Album Cover It also details cases of several patients who had to travel out of state for an abortion after being refused care for an ectopic pregnancy, and others who were denied chemotherapy care due to pregnancy. The documentary and supporting materials serve as a perfect springboard to have healthier, deeper, more connective conversations about abortion in your context. Documenting evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. Copyright 2022 NPR. The documentary and supporting materials serve as a perfect springboard to have healthier, deeper, more connective conversations about abortion in your context. That is when labor is induced, the babies path is blocked in the vagina, and the babies brain is sucked out if its skull. The fight for contraception, abortion rights, and bodily autonomy has always been hard-fought and tense, but in the last few years, it's become a life or death battle for many. Abortion reversal laws are based on contested science but states keep passing them. After Tiller is streaming on Amazon Prime. Since Planned Parenthoods decision to remove itself from Title X, the federal program that provides reproductive care for nearly 4 million low-income Americans, thousands of health care workers and administrators have been scrambling. All rights reserved, WUSF Knowledge (16.4) ACOG Committee Opinion No. Tel : 617-923-1216 The organizing principle of the collectives work is care that all health care, fundamentally, should be based on compassionate care. Powerful evidence of the unimaginable., Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor. Documentary filmmaker and video producer Aaron Hos, representing the UCF Center for Distributed Learning (CDL), was brought onto the project as Producer and Supervising Editor. With the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before the 2020 presidential election, conservatives secured a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and the chance to shape American life and policy, including abortion rights, for a generation. The Common Good: A Documentary (2010 Video) 21 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy Rate Two Catholic women who have reconciled their faith with their support of the right to choose travel across Wisconsin to spread their message. Similar laws are passed in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington state. It has repeatedly called on States parties to the CEDAW Convention to remove punitive measures for women who undergo abortion and to legalize abortion at least in cases of rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the pregnant woman and girls . There is no moral argument for legacy preferences at places like Yale University. And why it wasnt stopped sooner. / 54m. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and conservative allies to secure an ideological majority on the Supreme Court a successful push FRONTLINE chronicled in the 2020 documentary Supreme Revenge: Battle for the Court. BOOTH: A friend of mine said that his sister was pregnant, nearly suicidal, not prepared to have a child. On May 3, Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the documents authenticity, said that it did not represent a final court decision or the final position of any member on the issues in the case, and requested an investigation into the leak, which he called a singular and egregious breach of trust. Through contacts made at those hearings, the committee identified about 150 families whose stories they explored for the documentary. That also means empowering through education, via practices designed explicitly to provide information. They felt compelled to do this even as they understood their own limitations.. We knew that some would be injured, some would die, former member Judith Arcana says in the film. That is, until May 1972, when two women went to the police to report the collective, after attending a counseling appointment with their sister-in-law, who was seeking an abortion. Yet its not goodbye. The following people and organizations have made the public television broadcast of our film possible through their generous contributions. Wes Moore, behind her, during a news conference in support of bills to protect access to abortion. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE. JUDITH POUCHER Some women tried to self-induce abortions using objects or chemicals, which often led to infection and sometimes death. They note that the UN committee has already established that denial of abortion can cause physical and mental suffering so severe in pain and intensity as to amount to torture. The abortion clinic is less than a mile from Texas, where abortion is illegal.