{"id":459726,"date":"2022-06-09T00:38:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-janes-gave-11000-illegal-abortions-ahead-of-roe-v-wade\/"},"modified":"2022-06-09T00:38:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:38:41","slug":"the-janes-gave-11000-illegal-abortions-ahead-of-roe-v-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-janes-gave-11000-illegal-abortions-ahead-of-roe-v-wade\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;The Janes&#8217; gave 11,000 illegal abortions ahead of Roe v. Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23e49d66cfa\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23e49d66cfa\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-janes-gave-11000-illegal-abortions-ahead-of-roe-v-wade\/#%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98The_Janes_gave_11000_illegal_abortions_ahead_of_Roe_v_Wade%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;&#8216;The Janes&#8217; gave 11,000 illegal abortions ahead of Roe v. Wade&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98The_Janes_gave_11000_illegal_abortions_ahead_of_Roe_v_Wade%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;&#8216;The Janes&#8217; gave 11,000 illegal abortions ahead of Roe v. Wade&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>On May 3, 1972, at age 21, University of Chicago student Sheila Smith found herself and six female friends in the back of a police paddy wagon, eating a stack of three-by-five index cards, each one inked with the name and number of a woman seeking an illegal abortion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy first day of learning how to assist was the day I got arrested,\u201d Smith, now 71, told The Post.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>But Smith was more concerned about protecting the identities of the women she helped end\u00a0unwanted pregnancies\u00a0than facing 110 years in jail on 11 counts of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t want the names and telephone numbers of [our clients] to be given to the police,\u201d explained Smith, a Queens native.\u00a0\u201cSo we ripped the cards into pieces and ate all the parts that were relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Members-of-The-Jane.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Smith (left) was one of the seven members of Jane arrested on abortion charges on May 3, 1972.\" class=\"wp-image-22526971\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Members-of-The-Jane.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Members-of-The-Jane.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Members-of-The-Jane.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Sheila Smith (far left) was one of the seven members of Jane arrested on abortion charges on May 3, 1972.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photograph Courtesy of HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Smith had joined an underground abortion network called Jane, whose members went by the alias \u201cthe Janes.\u201d They covertly terminated more than 11,000 unwanted pregnancies in four years \u2014 all while under the threat of retribution from the cops, the mob and the Catholic Church \u2014 before getting caught.\u00a0Now, 40 years later, their story is being told in the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/trk.hbomax.com\/aff_c?offer_id=5&amp;aff_id=1020&amp;source=nyp\">HBO<\/a> documentary \u201cThe Janes,\u201d to be released Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese were very principled people that came out of the Civil Rights movement, the anti-[Vietnam] war movement, the student movement,\u201d Tia Lessin, who directed the film with Emma Pildes, told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were mothers, grandmothers, aunts and students,\u201d added Lessin, the Oscar-nominated creative behind 2008\u2019s \u201cTrouble the Water,\u201d about Hurricane Katrina. \u201cBut they were all united by their belief that women should be able to make this choice.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-1972-.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Smith (back row, right) joined Jane in 1971, hoping to assist women in safely terminating unwanted pregnancies.\" class=\"wp-image-22526969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-1972-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-1972-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-1972-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Smith (back row, right) joined Jane in 1971, hoping to assist women in safely terminating unwanted pregnancies. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photograph Courtesy of HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The duo conducted 11 on-camera interviews with the surviving members of Jane \u2014 including Heather Booth, who founded the underground abortion ring in 1968. <\/p>\n<p>In the mid 1960s, a friend had asked Booth, then a University of Chicago undergrad, to help his \u201cnearly suicidal\u201d sister end an unplanned pregnancy. She t<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed her sources in the medical arm of the Civil Rights Movement \u2014 connections forged when she\u2019d previously protested for voter registration rights in Mississippi alongside the leaders of the fight in the early \u201960s \u2014 and got Dr. T. R. M. Howard, a Civil Rights activist and surgeon, to agree to perform the abortion. Shortly thereafter, Howard was arrested for unlawfully terminating pregnancies, leaving women in need without a reliable and safe recourse. Women seeking an abortion in Chicago had to either solicit gangsters in the mob \u2014 who conducted the excisions in seedy motels and charged between $500 to $1000 for the procedure, for which they used code names like the \u201cCadillac,\u201d \u201cChevrolet\u201d or \u201cRolls Royce\u201d \u2014 or attempt to end the pregnancy themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/member-of-the-janes-1969-.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Women of Jane provided clients with pre-abortion counseling, post-op medication and a courtesy follow-up phone call. \" class=\"wp-image-22527472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/member-of-the-janes-1969-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/member-of-the-janes-1969-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/member-of-the-janes-1969-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Women of Jane provided clients with pre-abortion counseling, post-op medication and a courtesy follow-up phone call. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photograph Courtesy of HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI called the morgue every week that I was on that ward because somebody had died,\u201d OB\/GYN Allen Weiland says in the film. He recalls at least 15 to 20 injured women being wheeled in to the septic abortion ward of Chicago\u2019s Cook County Hospital each day. Many patients didn\u2019t survive the internal trauma. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>During the formative years, the Janes \u2014 none of whom had any professional medical training \u2014 enlisted the help of a guy named \u201cMike,\u201d who stepped in as the organization\u2019s principal abortionist because no real doctor was willing to answer the call.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"691\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/the-janes-documentary-hbo.jpg?w=691\" alt=\"HBO's &quot;The Janes&quot; tells the story of a group of women who performed over 11,000 illegal abortions in Chicago prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, legalizing abortion in 1973.\" class=\"wp-image-22526975\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/the-janes-documentary-hbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1382 1382w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/the-janes-documentary-hbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1037 1036w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/the-janes-documentary-hbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=691 691w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/the-janes-documentary-hbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=346 345w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/the-janes-documentary-hbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 691px) 100vw, 691px\"\/><figcaption>HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Janes\u201d tells the story of a group of women who performed over 11,000 illegal abortions in Chicago prior to the US Supreme Court\u2019s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, legalizing abortion in 1973. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first learned [how to do an abortion], I was helping this surgeon from Detroit,\u201d Mike says in a slurred, gruff baritone in the documentary. \u201cFor years, I watched him. I stood behind him, I handed him the tools. And then he said, \u2018Come here, you do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mike had a gentle bedside manner with the women seeking his help, but he didn\u2019t work for free. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first met [the Janes], the lady said, \u2018We\u2019re going to have customers who have the money [for an abortion]. We\u2019re also going to have customers who don\u2019t have the money\u2026 and we\u2019re going to do those for nothing,&#8217;\u201d Mike recalls in the film. \u201cI said, \u2018For nothing? Are you crazy? I\u2019m not goin to do it for nothing!&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His greed eventually became a point of contention with the Janes, and some of the women went on to learn to perform abortions themselves. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-august-1972-.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"The Janes provided women with transportation to and from their abortion sites, titled &quot;The Front&quot; and &quot;The Place.&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-22527530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-august-1972-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-august-1972-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/members-of-the-janes-august-1972-.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The Janes provided women with transportation to and from their abortion sites, titled \u201cThe Front\u201d and \u201cThe Place.\u201d<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photograph Courtesy of HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> Surprisingly, religious folk were some of the Janes\u2019 greatest allies.\u00a0The doc details how the Clergy Consultation Service, comprising members of the priesthood, worked with the Janes. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not a theological argument,\u201d Revered Dr. Donna Schaper says in the film: \u201cI\u2019ve had two abortions and I felt that God was with me, at my side, in all of these choices. It was a God-given decision.\u201d\u00a0.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Sheila-Smith-The-Janes.png?w=1024\" alt=\"Smith, now 71, says she's worried about the future as the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision in the coming weeks.\" class=\"wp-image-22526965\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Sheila-Smith-The-Janes.png?w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Sheila-Smith-The-Janes.png 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Sheila-Smith-The-Janes.png?w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Smith, now 71, says she\u2019s worried about the future as the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision in the coming weeks. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy Sheila Smith<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After their arrest in May \u201972, the ladies spent the night in lockup at Chicago\u2019s police headquarters at 11th and State Streets before a lawyer friend bailed them out. <\/p>\n<p>The following year, Roe v. Wade rendered anti-abortion laws unconstitutional. The ruling not only allowed would-be mothers to freely end unplanned pregnancies, it also gave the Janes\u2019 shrewd attorney, Jo-Anne F. Wolfson, the firepower she needed to get all charges against them dropped. Wolfson, who died in 2018, also worked to successfully get each of the Janes\u2019 criminal records expunged.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as Roe v. Wade is in danger over being overturned this month, Smith fears risky illegal and self-conducted abortions will leave desperate women in deadly predicaments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really worried about the future,\u201d she says.\u00a0\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/08\/the-janes-gave-11000-illegal-abortions-ahead-of-roe-v-wade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;The Janes&#8217; gave 11,000 illegal abortions ahead of Roe v. Wade&#8221; On May 3, 1972, at age 21, University of Chicago student Sheila Smith found herself and six female friends in the back of a police paddy wagon, eating a stack of three-by-five index cards, each one inked with the name and number of a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":459727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/janes-abortion-roe-wade.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[130078,71607,65799,5622,1524,640,70478,71608,70479,71609],"class_list":["post-459726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-8-22","tag-abortion","tag-documentaries","tag-documentary","tag-hbo","tag-hbo-max","tag-pregnancy","tag-roe-v-wade","tag-womens-health","tag-womens-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}