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On June 24\, 2022\, the U.S. S
upreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade\, the 1973 decision that legali
zed abortion in America. The ruling sparked outrage in a majority of the c
ountry. Six weeks after the SCOTUS decision\, voters in Kansas rejected a
constitutional amendment by 59-41% that would have denied the right to an
abortion across that state. But that hasn’t discouraged many states from p
ushing ahead with various draconian anti-abortion laws that could lead mil
lions of American women to return to the days of illegal and life-threaten
ing non-medical abortions.
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Until abortion became legal in 1973\, d
angerous abortion procedures were happening in cities through the country.
But in Chicago\, IL\, a group of courageous young women risked their free
dom trying to help women desperately seeking abortions. To shine a light o
n this issue that is in the news every day\, the Democrats of the
Red Rocks (DORR) Film Club is sponsoring the showing of The Janes at the Sedona International Film Festival’s Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Friday\, May 5 at 4 pm. Tickets fo
r this special event are $15 ($13 for SIFF members). There will be a panel
discussion and Q & A session following the film featuring DORR Board and
Film Club members.
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The Janes is a 2022 American documenta
ry film. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022\, four
months before a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion for the abortion case
of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization led to protests by pro-cho
ice advocates across the U.S.\, and two weeks before SCOTUS overturned Roe
. The Janes tells the story of how in the spring of 1972\, police
raided an apartment on the South Side of Chicago where seven women who we
re part of a clandestine network were arrested. Using code names\, fronts\
, and safe houses to protect themselves and their work\, this group of unl
ikely outlaws risked their personal and professional lives to build an und
erground service for women seeking safe\, affordable\, illegal abortions.
They called themselves “Jane.”
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The Janes offers first-han
d accounts from the women at the center of the group\, many speaking on th
e record for the first time\, of how they defied the state legislature tha
t outlawed abortion\, the Catholic Church that condemned it\, and the Chic
ago Mob that was profiting from it. In the pre-Roe v. Wade era—a time when
abortion was a crime in most states and even circulating information abou
t abortion was a felony in Illinois—the Janes provided low-cost and free a
bortions to an estimated 11\,000 women. Time Magazine called the
film “essential viewing for a post-Roe America.” The Atlantic com
mented that “the lesson from The Janes is that\, in the absence o
f justice and political power\, there’s enormous potential for collective
action.”
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Click HERE to purchase
tickets.
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