The Jane

Posted: Thu, Aug 29, 2024

Please keep an eye out for the following questions, but you are not required to write out answers. The questions are arranged in the rough order in which they come up in the documentary, though do note that sometimes a question may get addressed slightly later on.

• The late 60s to early 70s in Chicago: What were things like under the criminalization of abortions? What did the women who would go on to call themselves the Jane decide to do about it?
• Note the connections between the women’s movement and other social movements at the time: How did the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement shape the Jane? How did people active in those movements receive the feminists?
• The male doctors that initially performed abortions: Who were they? What were they in it for?
• The logistics: In what ways was the Jane’s approach to providing abortion services different?
• The inevitable question about what’s right/wrong: How did members of the Jane feel about what they were doing? What roles did the politics surrounding gender play in their thinking?
• The Clergy Consultation Service (CCS): What did CCS do differently from the Jane?
• Take note also of the role of overseas & east coast abortion services, such as abortion providers in Mexico as discussed by the Murillo article we read for today: Who went to CCS and who went to the Jane?
• The transition to DIY: How did the Jane adjust after their male doctor quit? Why was this transition significant to the members? How did things go?
• The last chapter of the Jane [if we get to it]: How did the Jane’s story come to an end?
• Reflecting on both the documentary and the article by Murillo, do you think the Jane did the right thing (can what’s legal/illegal and what’s right/wrong come apart)? Why or why not?