Revisit the documentaries below to understand how America reached this moment. & Sepp Seitz Sepp Seitz. It chronicles the real-life story of a group of women who helped those seeking abortions in Chicago more than 50 years ago. Eventually, the Janes learned to perform the procedure themselves. As a new U.S. Supreme Court term begins, revisit FRONTLINE documentaries that show how conservatives gained a court majority and give context for last term's major decisions on abortion, guns & more. 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 zone around abortion clinics that would be struck downby the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014. 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. It was successful in either firing or expelling more than 200 suspected gay 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. 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. Although these doctors are followed by constant threats of violence, these providers compassionately assist women who have to make the decision to terminate advanced, and often wanted, pregnancies. Shout Gladi Gladi. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. They say that between 1968 and 1973, they provided free or low-cost abortions to more than 11,000 women. And while showing how the collective was informed by the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the documentary misses an opportunity to situate the Janes work within both a historical and global context. The films stories of womens desperation are haunting and ominous. 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. January 28, 20223:00 PM ET. Florida Film Festival 2013 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.. 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. 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. Through contacts made at those hearings, the committee identified about 150 families whose stories they explored for the documentary. After Tiller is an essential watch to understand the emotional and misunderstood elements of the late-term abortion debate. Natasha Hellerich Rebecca Hodges This was a pivotal shift within the collective, not only in the services they provided but whom they provided them to: They never turned any woman away, no matter her financial situation. Weve seen consistent lip service from the Biden-Harris administration, but not enough action, she said. BOOTH: I'm hoping that it's actually a call to action. Susan Geiger Mississippi residents might get back the ability to enact public policy through statewide ballot initiatives. 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.. 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 centerpiece of their message: The most dangerous place for an African American child is in the womb.. Ultimately, just three were included. IE 11 is not supported. Find out in the 2015 documentary Outbreak, newly available to stream on FRONTLINEs YouTube channel. 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. The film traces the committee's origins in the era of McCarthyism and anti-gay propaganda while detailing the personal stories of those intimately involved with its activities. 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 afloat during COVID. 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. - Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director, Florida HistoricalSociety, - Stacy Braukman, author of Communists and Perverts under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida,1956-1965. The group helped an estimated 11,000 women in Chicago get access to safe, affordable abortions in the late 1960s and early 70s. The documentary provides a somewhat chronological account of their work, ending with the public arrest of several of its members, the threat of long prison sentences, and the interventions of their attorney. Rather, to invoke Ijeoma Oluo, they are working according to their design. The letter sent on Thursday was addressed to a number of UN agencies and officials, including the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls; the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy. SYLVANA FERNNDEZ Even before last year's Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, a recent international surge in films about abortion rights and the endangerment thereof from period pieces like . If you do not see your local station listed here, we urge you to contact them and ask them to air this film. UCF OFFICE OF LGBTQ SERVICES Editor's note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Footnote 1 The chair of the Republican National Committee, Mary Louise Smith, supported abortion rights, as did First Lady Betty Ford, who declared Roe v. Wade a "great, great decision." Likewise, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who had taken a leading role in the fight for abortion rights in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s . "I wanted it over with and I didn't . ACOG Committee Opinion No. Here is a partial list of stations that will air The Committee. In private meetings across the country, many are asking the same question: what next? And all of a sudden, they were gone. DEL BARCO: The Janes say their clients included wives and girlfriends of police officers. 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. CT proposal causes confusion, concern, Shelton group to host Syrian refugee family, Suspect in rape at CT housing authority property rejects offer, West Haven public housing waitlist highlights 'national crisis', Is CT recycling going into the trash? So we thought, we can be of use. 4. Almost daily, the Reproductive Health Services clinic in Montgomery, Alabama, receives several versions of the same call: Are yall still doing abortions?". Washington D.C., Jun 23, 2021 / 09:00 am. Click here to download the complete press kit. Officials from the US mission to the UN and the US Gender Policy Council, a White House office established by the Biden administration, did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 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. 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. On June 1, 2016 the film will be released to more than 70 local public television stations via APT. Members of the underground group informally known as Jane. 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. daniel@whatisessential.org 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. Documenting evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. And for too long, the US has been able to avoid that type of international scrutiny, she said. Yet its not goodbye. The documentary premiered this week in Washington, and its available to watch on the congressmans website as well as on YouTube. Cole and Savannah LaBrant, who run a family YouTube channel called "The LaBrant Fam" where they have over 13 million subscribers, have faced backlash for releasing a video on April 9 labeled a "documentary" about abortion. 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.. Brutal, costly abortions at the hands of the Mafia. I asked if you thought it was OK. Overriding nearly five decades of legal precedent, the Supreme Courthas overturnedRoe v. Wade, the landmark1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S. Im just enormously happy with the outcome of the committee, Himes said. Have you watched the film on your local PBS station? Used by permission, Cover From Newsweek, June 6,1977, IBT MEDIA Others turned to Chicagos organized crime syndicate, but its services were expensive and often unsafe. Authored by Justice Samuel Alito in February, the draft opinion would override 50 years of legal precedent, striking down the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that determined women have a fundamental right to an abortion, and instead would grant individual states the full authority to regulate or prohibit abortion. They spoke all of three sentences to me the entire time. FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. The film details how the women of the Chicago-based group worked and helped women obtain safe and affordable abortions. 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. Barron says someone in the Chicago mob took her to a seedy motel with another young, pregnant woman. This is going to hurt, but it won't hurt for long. 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. From left: Martha Scott, Jeanne Galatzer-Levy, Abby Parisers, Sheila Smith and Madeline Schwenk. Correction: This story originally stated that Roe v. Wade was decided in 1972. The law was rendered unconstitutional after the passage of Proposal 3 in November. Judith Arcana was one of them. This historical context, now made contemporary in light of the Supreme Courts leaked draft opinion, has set the stage for The Janes, a new documentary premiering on HBO on Wednesday, June 8. In documentaries and related reporting, weve tracked developments related to this contentious issue including, in recent years, the Mississippi law at the center of the draft Supreme Court decision and the ways states have prepared for a potential post-Roe v. Wade world. But for what it's worth, I didn't ask how often or when at all it might happen. After helping organize Black voters in Mississippi, she turned her activism to women with unwanted pregnancies. 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. The film's stories of women's desperation are haunting . U.S. lawmakers began a wide-ranging two-year investigation into U.S. strategic competition with China Tuesday night, with testimony from Chinese human rights activists and former U.S. national . To prepare for the Supreme Court's current term, we recommend brushing up on the issues with six FRONTLINE documentaries. Himes said he consulted friends who work in television for advice on who should narrate the piece. Explore FRONTLINEs collected and ongoing reporting on Russia's war on Ukraine. UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA BURNETT HONORS COLLEGE, RUTH JENSEN-FORBELL This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Booth tells her story in "The Janes." 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. JUDITH ARCANA: Women did awful things out of fear and desperation. Especially now. 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. 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. A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. The broadcast version also updates viewers on same-sex marriage in Florida. 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. UCF Office of Instructional Resources The documentary and supporting materials serve as a perfect springboard to have healthier, deeper, more connective conversations about abortion in your context. This fall, Himes, a former Wall Street banker, won an eighth term as Connecticuts 4th District representative in Congress. 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.. 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. In the documentary, members of Jane, who themselves were predominantly middle- and upper-class white women, spoke about recognizing the problematic dynamic. Efforts to revise the ending of the film began shortly thereafter and WUSF-TV in Tampa agreed to pitch the film to the American Public Television Exchange for national distribution. 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. These Documentaries Show How We Got Here. 3 min read The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a woman's federal. 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. 7 min read. Suncoast Emmy Awards 2014, Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts 2012, Atlanta's Out On Film LGBT Film Festival 2014 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. Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. Screenings come with free resources, including the official ABORTION TALKS dialogue guide by Essential Partners. The Fight For Women's Bodies Contains some upsetting scenes. Some women tried to self-induce abortions using objects or chemicals, which often led to infection and sometimes death. The . Not all materials collected were included in the resulting new documentary about the Johns Committee. 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. EMMA PILDES: They want people to feel like they could do this, too. 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. The committee was tasked with producing a report with policy recommendations, but Himes wanted to go further than that. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. 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. Abortion restrictions compound economic, social, and geographic barriers to healthcare, including contraception, disproportionately impacting Black womens ability to access the care we need.. So weve got to address those things.. They are joined by a broader coalition of groups and individual advocates for human rights and racial and economic justice. Arcana, now in her 70s, and other members, who were college age to middle age, were known as Jane, a code name used to avoid being caught. to meet secretly for six years under the guidance of Essential Partners co-founder Laura R. Chasin. RICHARD HARRISON 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. These courageous leaders risked their personal safety and professional livesto meet secretly for six years under the guidance of Essential Partners co-founder Laura R. Chasin and mediator Susan Podziba. The limitations included performing abortions with no formal medical training. 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. All rights reserved, WUSF Knowledge (16.4) A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. . ELIZABETH JENSEN-FORBELL, LOGAN KRIETE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, Photo from The New York Times, July 2, 1969. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. Powerful evidence of the unimaginable., Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor. COMMANDER MICHAEL CALDERIN AND THE Call this number, and ask for Jane. 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 USs role as a leader on the world stage does not exempt the country from these obligations in fact, it should require them to do more, said a representative from the Global Justice Center, which is one of the signatories. Jane filled the vacuum. Abortion: Stories Women Tell is streaming on HBO Max. House Bill 4006 repeals the 1931 law, which states it's illegal for any individual, mainly doctors, to assist . 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 . But months before her passing, Nick Sweeneys documentary examines how McCorvey overcame poverty, neglect and abuse all while being positioned as the symbol in one of Americas most contentious modern debates. So, Mike trained the Janes to perform abortions themselves. Students also interviewed Judith Poucher, Ph.D., who recently released her book State of Defiance: Challenging the Johns Committee's Assault on Civil Liberties. Though illegal under Illinois law, the Janes, as they called . MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: The. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has this report. 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. South Carolina introduces bill to punish women who have an abortion by executing them 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 boingboing.net - Mark Frauenfelder 17h Read more on boingboing.net Abortion South Carolina Reproductive Rights "We've been telling you for the last 20 years, no one wants that! 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.. Many of them hadnt even told the stories to their families or their friends, so this was a big move for them, Lessin said. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. How American Politics Reached This Fraught Moment: 12 Documentaries to Watch Ahead of the Midterms, How the Supreme Courts Conservative Majority Came to Be, Mass Shootings, a Supreme Court Ruling, Bipartisan Legislation: How America Reached This Moment on Guns, From the Archives: How the World's Deadliest Ebola Outbreak Unfolded, Russias Invasion of Ukraine, One Year Later, War Crimes Watch Ukraine: More Than 650 Documented Events, From the Archives: How the U.N. & World Failed Darfur Amid "the 21st Century's First Genocide". Cassanello, Mills, Hos and their former students launched a fundraising campaign to cover the cost of licensing images and music in the film. Dialogue participant Melissa Kogut, former head of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, calls this a powerful documentary right when we need it. Frances Hogan, founder of Women Affirming Life describes it as fair, clear and intriguing, and Anne Fowler, a pro-choice Episcopal priest, writes inspiring, brilliantly told.. Lets hope it incites us to action, and not to despair. That context could have strengthened the documentarys larger political message about civil disobedience as an effective solution to institutional failure. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. Click here to find a screening in your area. Directors: Erik Cieslewicz, Brooke Sperry | Stars: Dino Corvino, Liz Hayes, Chrystina Head, Frances Irwin 9. 833. And at that point, I realized we better set up a system. Abortion is a common procedure ( one in four American women will have one, according to the Guttmacher Institute) that has been so flattened into an "issue" that it can feel revelatory to just. 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. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. "We went old school to find one of the . AMY SIMPSON, UCF College of Arts & Humanities Web Team, LOU ELLEN KRAMER Gasparilla International Film Festival 2012. 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. Lee. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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.