All rights reserved. Others turned to Chicagos organized crime syndicate, but its services were expensive and often unsafe. 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. We knew that some would be injured. Orlando Film Festival 2014 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. There is no moral or economic argument for taxing working people at average rates that are higher than people who are collecting dividends. That context could have strengthened the documentarys larger political message about civil disobedience as an effective solution to institutional failure. In a letter shared in advance with the Guardian and sent on Thursday by nearly 200 organizations and experts, the authors detail how, since the overturning of the federal constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, some 22 million women and girls of reproductive age live in states where abortion access is now either banned or inaccessible. The documentary also reported on the increase in clinic invasions and threats. ! they shouted, going from room to room looking for a male physician. Will they matter? Dorrie Barron tells us what it was like for her to get an abortion before the Janes and Roe v. Wade came along. A new documentary tells the story of "The Jane Collective," a group that helped women with nowhere else to turn for a safe abortion, in the days before Roe v. Wade. And The Janes offers a template for organized feminist action. And for too long, the US has been able to avoid that type of international scrutiny, she said. 11: New York allows abortion on demand up to the 24th week of pregnancy, as Gov. Call this number, and ask for Jane. To help you learn more about the history behind this courts contentious ruling, TheWrap has gathered five essential documentaries to watch. He said he often gets asked how its possible to represent a population with such a wide range in income and wealth disparity. This documentary tells the story of a young doctor named Rebecca Gomperts. The system is tilted in favor of people who have already made it, and we need to be really serious about addressing that, he said. They are joined by a broader coalition of groups and individual advocates for human rights and racial and economic justice. 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. Nobody wants an unstable banking system.. 3 min read The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a woman's federal. The class also watched the only documentary previously made on the subject, Allyson Beutkes Behind Closed Doors: The Dark Legacy of the Johns Committee. 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. So weve got to address those things.. Jane filled the vacuum. But when youre talking about people and their hopes to better themselves economically, you can tell some wonderful stories., Drawing a parallel to the U.S. House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, Himes said, They radically changed the way a congressional committee communicates with the American public and we did the same thing with this documentary.. The documentary explores how the killings ignited a fierce debate about the intersection of free speech, abortion and religion and contributed to a Massachusetts law allowing a 35-foot buffer. 4. In the documentary, members of Jane, who themselves were predominantly middle- and upper-class white women, spoke about recognizing the problematic dynamic. 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. Two new films tell the story. The centerpiece of their message: The most dangerous place for an African American child is in the womb.. A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. . Thirty-six years after FRONTLINE released 1983s Abortion Clinic, the documentarys producer returned to Pennsylvania to find a community more bitterly divided than ever. The movie focuses on the tale of a real person, Abby Johnson, a former director of Planned Parenthood, who claims she left the organization after witnessing a 13-week abortion on an ultrasound.. - Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director, Florida HistoricalSociety, - Stacy Braukman, author of Communists and Perverts under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida,1956-1965. Natasha Hellerich "We went old school to find one of the . Educational DVDs of The Abortion Divideare available from ShopPBS for Teachers. Revisit the documentaries below to understand how America reached this moment. Michael Hugo, the chair of the Framingham Democratic Committee said during a Feb. 7, Framingham, Massachusetts, city council meeting that special needs children who aren't aborted are a financial . 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. DEL BARCO: The Janes hired an attorney who had represented the Black Panthers. SYLVANA FERNNDEZ 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. Rev. Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones gestures to Gov. Explore FRONTLINEs collected and ongoing reporting on Russia's war on Ukraine. Same-sex marriage became legal in Florida in January, 2015. The documentary begins with a cautionary tale. In reality, the Jane Collective was not unique. Of course it felt complicated, Peaches, a white woman in the collective, observed. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. The Dobbs ruling pushed the US even further out of line with its human rights obligations, including its obligation to ensure access to abortion and to eliminate structural racism and discrimination, said Annerieke Smaak Daniel, womens rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. Booth says she found a willing doctor who promised safe, secure procedures. Enlarge this image. The description of the arrest of seven Janes is almost comical. 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. 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 . Members of the Jane Collective, an underground . In this short documentary, FRONTLINE followed a group of African American anti-abortion activists and their work inside the Black community. The documentary and supporting materials serve as a perfect springboard to have healthier, deeper, more connective conversations about abortion in your context. Florida Senator Charley Johns chaired the committee, and its aim was to root out communist and homosexual teachers and students from state universities. There is no moral argument for legacy preferences at places like Yale University. Lie back and do as I tell you. Some eventually began performing abortions themselves after the older man they previously relied on, who used the code name Dr. Many former members told their stories publicly for the first time in The Janes, which premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival. This renewed interest is of course not a coincidence. Connecticut Gov. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: The. Gasparilla International Film Festival 2012. Anti-abortion protestors are getting ready to march on the Supreme . The Committee is a documentary film about the little-known Florida Legislative Investigative Committee of the State Legislature from 1956-1965. With intimate access, The Abortion Divide featured interviews with women with unplanned pregnancies, doctors and nurses who provided abortions, and those who counseled women against the procedure. 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 couple said they wanted to send a message of being "pro-love" rather than "pro-choice" or "pro-life," but viewers have . Through contacts made at those hearings, the committee identified about 150 families whose stories they explored for the documentary. 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. Member states are obliged to protect and uphold the rights to life, health, privacy, liberty and security, along with freedoms from torture and inhumane, cruel or degrading treatment. This fall, Himes, a former Wall Street banker, won an eighth term as Connecticuts 4th District representative in Congress. Supreme Court Strikes Down Louisiana Abortion Law, 6 FRONTLINE Documentaries for Supreme Court-Watchers, How a Hacking Case Could Shape Protections For Abortion Clinics, As "Abortion Reversal" Laws Spread, Doctors and Scientists are Pushing Back, After Abortion Ban Attempt in Alabama, a Flood of Confusion and Phone Calls, With Planned Parenthood Out of Title X, Clinics Face A Terrible Choice, Medical Abortions Have Changed Abortion Access And They're Available on the Internet, How States Are Preparing For A Potential Roe v. Wade Challenge, What's Changed Inside and Outside Abortion Clinics Over 30 Years. 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. 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. Roewas egregiously wrong from the start, Alito wrote in his draft, which also takes aim at the 1992 Supreme Court rulingPlanned Parenthood v. Casey. In the film, they describe taking turns helping the women who called. After a Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked last month indicating that the justices are likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, it felt like the time for us to come together to give women a platform to talk about what it looks like when abortion is criminalized, Pildes said. Where is the money? 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. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, Photo from The New York Times, July 2, 1969. 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. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 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.. The law cannot and should not stop people from seeking out life-saving health care. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. 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, amid this violence, a hopefulness shines through. Used by permission, Cover From Newsweek, June 6,1977, IBT MEDIA House Bill 4006 repeals the 1931 law, which states it's illegal for any individual, mainly doctors, to assist . The actions she took on became known as Women on Waves. 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. ANDY HUSE, ARTSERVE FT. LAUDERDALE WUCF-TV is now streaming The Committee for FREE on their website! The constant threat of not just being arrested for getting an abortion but for even talking about one which was a felony. Apr. How, despite "Roe v. Wade," anti-abortion advocates successfully led campaigns to pass multiple state laws limiting access to abortion with efforts in Miss. We knew that some would be injured, some would die, former member Judith Arcana says in the film. The US Supreme Court's 7-2 decision established rules based on a pregnancy trimester framework, banning legislative interference in the first trimester of pregnancy (0-12 weeks), allowing states to regulate abortion during the second trimester (weeks 13-28) "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health," and allowing a state to And although they continued to disagree, together they successfully prevented future violence. 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. These Documentaries Show How We Got Here. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. BOOTH: And word spread, and someone else called. Abortion: Stories Women Tell is streaming on HBO Max. Wheres the doctor? The Committee recalls that unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. FRONTLINE has been documenting the fight over abortion for several decades. Both projects wrapped up this month. CARL VAN NESS University of Central Florida College of Arts & Humanities. 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. MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Heather Booth was on vacation when she got the news that the Supreme Court may soon rule that abortion is once again illegal in the U.S. HEATHER BOOTH: I was horrified but not surprised. Capitol Police removed a pro-Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) protester from a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday after the woman interrupted a line of questioning from Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. The letter also includes damning examples since Roe was overturned, including the case of one patient in Wisconsin who was left to bleed at home for 10 days following a miscarriage because hospital staff feared violating the states abortion ban if they intervened to give care. That said, Himes is committed to shaping policy that evens the playing field.