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. And at that point, I realized we better set up a system. 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. 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. 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. There is no moral or economic argument for taxing working people at average rates that are higher than people who are collecting dividends. 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. UCF Center for Distributed Learning, 2015 - University of Central Florida WUCF-TV is now streaming The Committee for FREE on their website! 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. The constant threat of not just being arrested for getting an abortion but for even talking about one which was a felony. "The Janes" is streaming on HBO Max. Lets hope it incites us to action, and not to despair. To prepare for the Supreme Court's current term, we recommend brushing up on the issues with six FRONTLINE documentaries. later, the body is removed and disposed of as medical waste. 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 . RICHARD HARRISON DEL BARCO: The film shows how the Jane Collective was different. Vessel premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2014, winning the Audience Award for Documentary in Competition and a Special Jury Award for Political Courage. Powerful evidence of the unimaginable., Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor. These Documentaries Show How We Got Here. 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. Nobody wants an unstable banking system.. Himes said he consulted friends who work in television for advice on who should narrate the piece. DEL BARCO: Booth, who is 76 years old, has been fighting for women's reproductive rights since she was a 19-year-old college student. Im just enormously happy with the outcome of the committee, Himes said. She pointed out, for example, that even with the loss of Roe, the Biden administration could make abortion drugs more readily available by removing unnecessary regulations on certain drugs. The documentary premiered this week in Washington, and its available to watch on the congressmans website as well as on YouTube. Overriding nearly five decades of legal precedent, the Supreme Courthas overturnedRoe v. Wade, the landmark1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S. With lower costs and more scheduling availability (they could sometimes perform up to two dozen abortions a day), women of color from the South Side and West Side of Chicago quickly became their main clients. Essential Partners is a 501(c)3 organization, 2016-2023 Essential Partners |Site Credits. 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. Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival 2013 The 30-minute documentary, "Grit & Grace: The Fight for the American Dream," features three families facing varied economic challenges a North Carolina man grieving his parents while working to finish college, a family caring for twin sons with special needs in West Virginia and an immigrant mom in California who struggled to keep her business The collective was always under surveillance, but, they noted, because male authorities from police to judges had themselves solicited services for their wives, daughters and mistresses, they were able to operate largely without police interference. Signatories in the letter list prior actions from the UN Human Rights Committee's over abortion . Dorrie Barron tells us what it was like for her to get an abortion before the Janes and Roe v. Wade came along. Of course it felt complicated, Peaches, a white woman in the collective, observed. In 1963, 280 deaths were recorded in the U.S. from induced abortions, and in 1965, they dropped to 235, according to Pew Research, which indicated that the numbers fell to single digits or zero every year after Roe v. Wade was decided. 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. 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. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: The. Members of the underground group informally known as Jane. (617) 923-1216, Ext 24, PO Box 400175, Cambridge, MA 02140info@whatisessential.org The ads were the work of an underground abortion network started by University of Chicago student Heather Booth that helped an estimated 11,000 Chicago women obtain safe and affordable abortions before Roe v. Wade was handed down. Nobody wants to spend an hour on [Interstate] 95. Accuracy and availability may vary. The law was rendered unconstitutional after the passage of Proposal 3 in November. Mississippi residents might get back the ability to enact public policy through statewide ballot initiatives. Barron says someone in the Chicago mob took her to a seedy motel with another young, pregnant woman. We came together to do something at a time when it was most needed, collective member Laura Kaplan said at the documentarys conclusion. Feel free to share it around. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News. (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images). The limitations included performing abortions with no formal medical training. The committee was tasked with producing a report with policy recommendations, but Himes wanted to go further than that. Anita Bryant "I Believe" Album Cover The students who made the film graduated, but stayed in touch with Cassanello and Mills about the films success. (Amy Davis) Sullivan, a . Some women tried to self-induce abortions using objects or chemicals, which often led to infection and sometimes death. BOB GRAHAM 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.. Editor's note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Apr. The opinion onthe Mississippi-based case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization could change before a final ruling is released in the coming months, Politico said, describing the publication of the draft as unprecedented.. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. Where is the money? As the day nears that the Supreme Court might overturn Roe v. Wade, the directors said they hoped viewers would draw inspiration from the former Janes.. - Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director, Florida HistoricalSociety, - Stacy Braukman, author of Communists and Perverts under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida,1956-1965. And although they continued to disagree, together they successfully prevented future violence. Lawmakers may have the power to legislate which actions are legal and which are not, but they cannot simply end abortions. It was successful in either firing or expelling more than 200 suspected gay Many former members told their stories publicly for the first time in The Janes, which premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival. Send questions and comments to Lisa.Mills@ucf.edu. Nearly 50 years later, Roe v. Wade could be overturned. The centerpiece of their message: The most dangerous place for an African American child is in the womb.. 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.. He said he often gets asked how its possible to represent a population with such a wide range in income and wealth disparity. Anne Fowler (top row, left) is anEpiscopal priestand outspoken pro-choice advocate who served as theRector of St. John's Church in Jamaica Plain, MA, on the board of directors for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and on the board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Himes said various members of the committee have plans in the works to screen the movie in their districts, and theyre promoting it at universities. DEL BARCO: Booth gathered an underground collective of women who called themselves Jane. January 28, 20223:00 PM ET. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Now, the American Medical Association is fighting back. Charges were dropped after Roe v. Wade was decided the following year. So weve got to address those things.. JUDITH ARCANA: Women did awful things out of fear and desperation. used by permission and protected by the Roewas egregiously wrong from the start, Alito wrote in his draft, which also takes aim at the 1992 Supreme Court rulingPlanned Parenthood v. Casey. Although some initially hesitated to appear on camera, all of them understood that these rights were slipping away and that these stories were relevant, said Tia Lessin, who co-directed the film with Emma Pildes. 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. 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.. 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We would like to thank the following individuals without whose advice and assistance the broadcast version of this film could never have happened: Colleen Hamilton Copyright 2022 NPR. LEARNING INSTITUTE FOR ELDERS (L.I.F.E.) That said, Himes is committed to shaping policy that evens the playing field. IE 11 is not supported. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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. & Sepp Seitz Sepp Seitz. Tel : 617-923-1216 The abortion clinic is less than a mile from Texas, where abortion is illegal. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has this report. Several decades after Roe v. Wade, the anti-abortion movement had successfully spearheaded campaigns in multiple states, passing laws that limited access to abortion including in Mississippi, where a single facility performing abortions remained. Photos taken by Flip Schulke Flip Schulke Watch documentaries chronicling Americas abortion battle and the transformation of the U.S. Supreme Court. Some would die. They are joined by a broader coalition of groups and individual advocates for human rights and racial and economic justice. After realizing the consequences of anti-abortion law around the world, she took it upon herself to provide abortions on ships in the ocean. The organizing principle of the collectives work is care that all health care, fundamentally, should be based on compassionate care. 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. And many documentary filmmakers have used their medium over the years to reflect on what led to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and what historical and political developments have led to the continued debate over a womans right to choose. 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. And in addition to offering a deeply personal window into choices the women faced in unplanned pregnancies, the film examined the steadfast belief of the anti-abortion community that there should be no choice at all. None of the participants would change their minds, but the dialogues changed their lives. 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They each were charged with eleven counts of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion, and each faced up to 110 years in prison. The groups in the letter claim that overturning the constitutional right to abortion contravenes the USs international obligations as a UN member organization. Some eventually began performing abortions themselves after the older man they previously relied on, who used the code name Dr. DEL BARCO: Then they'd move to another Jane's home, what they called the place. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Two members of the Chicago Police Departments homicide unit show up to the apartment where the abortions were being done that day and were baffled. Word spread, and by 1968 Booth realized she needed more help to continue her referral service. Find out in the 2015 documentary Outbreak, newly available to stream on FRONTLINEs YouTube channel. Eventually, the Janes learned to perform the procedure themselves. That is when such a situation arises. Abortion: Stories Women Tell is streaming on HBO Max. For information about screening the film as an individual, in a classroom setting or for your organization, please complete the following form and we'll be back in touch soon. Rarely has a documentary been quite so timely as The Janes. FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. 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. Lessin said the group treated women with care and concern leading up to and during their appointments and stayed in contact with them after their procedures, in contrast to many back-alley male doctors, the worst of whom performed abortions while drunk and sometimes sexually assaulted their patients. The documentary also reported on the increase in clinic invasions and threats. Served with the US Army in the Philippines in World War II. In the spring of 2012, the film began screening in film festivals in Florida and over the next two years it screened in festivals all over the world, winning many competitions, prizes, and awards. An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. The authors say the curtailment of abortion rights in the US is of a piece with the countrys history of devaluing the lives of Black women, who are hit worst by abortion restrictions. The Jane group evaded law enforcement until seven Janes were arrested in 1972. 3 min read The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a woman's federal. This fall, Himes, a former Wall Street banker, won an eighth term as Connecticuts 4th District representative in Congress. DEL BARCO: In 1972, police raided the operation and arrested seven of the Janes, including Arcana, who told NPR she was a nursing mother at the time. On June 1, 2016 the film will be released to more than 70 local public television stations via APT. CARL VAN NESS The film details how the women of the Chicago-based group worked and helped women obtain safe and affordable abortions. The Committee recalls that unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. Here is a partial list of stations that will air The Committee. This is the question viewers are left with when watching "Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa," a short documentary film offering a glimpse into the lives of five callers to an abortion fund hotline in Philadelphiaeach left with an unplanned pregnancy, no options, and everything to lose. (The reason, he alludes to on camera, is that the Mafia was closing in on him.). Actress Sarah Jessica Parker narrates the piece, acknowledging briefly in the introduction that her own family faced financial difficulties during her childhood. Madeline McComish (top row, center), a retired chemist, is past president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. The film will debut on HBO on Wednesday, June 8 and will then be available to stream on HBO Max. It has become almost tragically ironic that the US government uses the language of human rights to condemn state abuses against citizens of other countries, be that in Iran, or Belarus.