Students also interviewed Judith Poucher, Ph.D., who recently released her book State of Defiance: Challenging the Johns Committee's Assault on Civil Liberties. The Common Good: A Documentary (2010 Video) 21 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy Rate Two Catholic women who have reconciled their faith with their support of the right to choose travel across Wisconsin to spread their message. From left: Martha Scott, Jeanne Galatzer-Levy, Abby Parisers, Sheila Smith and Madeline Schwenk. Their work dramatically changed when Mike the man who had been performing the procedures after Howard, and who, unbeknownst to some of the Janes, was not a medically licensed physician decided that he didnt want to do it anymore. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 409 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2188. She delayed the case for months, and charges were dropped when the Supreme Court ruled abortion was legal in 1973. Yet its not goodbye. Roe v. Wade Appears Poised to Fall. He explained exactly what he was doing. In fall 2011, professors Robert Cassanello and Lisa Mills taught an Advanced Documentary Workshop class at the University of Central Florida. You can always mobilize to help one another, you can organize, and ultimately thats what matters most, Pildes said. We knew that some would be injured. Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones gestures to Gov. 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. 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. IE 11 is not supported. The films stories of womens desperation are haunting and ominous. Documentary shows how women ran underground abortion network before Roe v. Wade ruling, according to a 2019 BuzzFeed essay written by Allan Weiland. That also means empowering through education, via practices designed explicitly to provide information. (The reason, he alludes to on camera, is that the Mafia was closing in on him.). They were unable to fathom that the women could do the work themselves. To prepare for the Supreme Court's current term, we recommend brushing up on the issues with six FRONTLINE documentaries. Some were anti-war activists or women's lib members, some were homemakers and at least one was a nun. Abortion restrictions, the signatories write, deny womens decisional and bodily autonomy in a way that rejects the agency, dignity and equality of people who can become pregnant.. daniel@whatisessential.org Nelson A. Rockefeller signs a bill repealing the state's 1830 law that banned abortion after quickening except to save a woman's life. Meryl Streep narrates this touching documentary about African women who are rescued from being outcasts in their villages when giving birth leads to obstetric fistula. later, the body is removed and disposed of as medical waste. 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. Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, and Rep. Kevin Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, presented the . RICHARD HARRISON 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. The documentary premiered this week in Washington, and its available to watch on the congressmans website as well as on YouTube. JUDITH POUCHER 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. 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. Rep. Barbara . They say that between 1968 and 1973, they provided free or low-cost abortions to more than 11,000 women. DAVID MORAN Marcie Bianco is a writer and editor based in California. 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. The film was released theatrically in New York . Jane was born first as a continuation of Booths referral service, and then as a counseling service. 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. Republican. Used by permission, Cover From Newsweek, June 6,1977, IBT MEDIA Some women tried to self-induce abortions using objects or chemicals, which often led to infection and sometimes death. The Jane group evaded law enforcement until seven Janes were arrested in 1972. Exclusive: letter from human rights groups says overturning of the constitutional right violates USs obligations as a UN member state. 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. Directors: Erik Cieslewicz, Brooke Sperry | Stars: Dino Corvino, Liz Hayes, Chrystina Head, Frances Irwin 9. Experts believe that the use of a law traditionally used against physical threats could change the landscape. Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. MARIE LERNER: We need to turn the anger, the fear, the concern we've got into protest. Suncoast Emmy Awards 2014, Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts 2012, Atlanta's Out On Film LGBT Film Festival 2014 This renewed interest is of course not a coincidence. Melissa Kogut (bottom row, center) wasExecutive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice MA at the time of the clinic shootings and throughout the six yearlong dialogues. snoopy happy dance emoji 8959 norma pl west hollywood ca 90069 8959 norma pl west hollywood ca 90069 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 . 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. Jennifer 8. All rights reserved, WUSF Knowledge (16.4) The fight for contraception, abortion rights, and bodily autonomy has always been hard-fought and tense, but in the last few years, it's become a life or death battle for many. Similar laws are passed in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington state. Charges were dropped after Roe v. Wade was decided the following year. I asked if you thought it was OK. - Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director, Florida HistoricalSociety, - Stacy Braukman, author of Communists and Perverts under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida,1956-1965. (617) 923-1216, Ext 24, PO Box 400175, Cambridge, MA 02140info@whatisessential.org 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. Detailing the decades-long abortion debate, these docs give context to the historic Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Its pretty hard to tell stories and to be evocative about tax policy, Himes said. Yet, amid this violence, a hopefulness shines through. 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. After the genocide in Rwanda and atrocities in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in the 1990s, the world vowed never again. Then came the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, which began 20 years ago. 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. 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. Abortions happened long before Roe v. Wade, and they will continue to happen long after its apparently imminent demise. Have you watched the film on your local PBS station? 11: New York allows abortion on demand up to the 24th week of pregnancy, as Gov. How the Supreme Courts Conservative Majority Came to Be. N. ADAM WATSON 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. Abortion: Stories Women Tell is streaming on HBO Max. Many of them hadnt even told the stories to their families or their friends, so this was a big move for them, Lessin said. Weve seen consistent lip service from the Biden-Harris administration, but not enough action, she said. Since its first season in 1983, FRONTLINE has been covering the battle over abortion at both the national and state levels. Tel : 617-923-1216 BOOTH: A friend of mine said that his sister was pregnant, nearly suicidal, not prepared to have a child. Nobody wants to spend an hour on [Interstate] 95. Powerful evidence of the unimaginable., Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor. Nobody wants an unstable banking system.. It has repeatedly called on States parties to the CEDAW Convention to remove punitive measures for women who undergo abortion and to legalize abortion at least in cases of rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the pregnant woman and girls . TIA LESSIN: There's audacious women who outmaneuvered the Chicago Police and the Catholic Church and the Chicago mob to help other women in need. This story was originally published by Idaho Reports on March 3, 2023. DORRIE BARRON: I was petrified. Both projects wrapped up this month. They each were charged with eleven counts of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion. More 33 mins 13 Jun 2018. The documentary serves as a cautionary tale, with its release just weeks after a leak from the U.S. Supreme Court suggested the landmark 1973 ruling that established abortion rights nationwide . The institutions that serve us are not broken they are working according to their design. The documentary featured the perspectives of women with unplanned pregnancies, as well as people who worked inside the clinic and members of the community who protested outside. Others turned to Chicagos organized crime syndicate, but its services were expensive and often unsafe. This interdisciplinary seminar was a cooperative effort between the History Department and the film program in the School of Visual Arts and Design. Many former members told their stories publicly for the first time in The Janes, which premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival. O n the day Angela Saini talks to me from her book-lined study in New York, the patriarchy is hard at work all over the world. 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. But people would be banned from using the process to change abortion laws. April 23 and August 27, 2019 To arrange a press screener, an interview with the filmmakers, Josh Sabey and Sarah Perkins, an interview with an Essential Partners expert, or an interview with participating members of THE ABORTION TALKS dialogues, please contact: Daniel Pritchard Members of the public gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 2, 2022, after a leaked draft majority opinion signaled the likely end of Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of abortion law. 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. Lesanne Brunswick. Wheres the doctor? "We've been telling you for the last 20 years, no one wants that! A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. . The leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court signaling an intention to overturn Roe v. Wade makes HBO's upcoming documentary "The Janes" extremely timely. Around this time, too, abortion became legal in New York state and Washington, D.C., which meant that a large demographic of their clientele middle- and upper-class white women could travel to obtain a legal abortion (abortion was still illegal in Illinois). But for what it's worth, I didn't ask how often or when at all it might happen. The abortion debate has long dominated political discourse on Capitol Hill, particularly in recent years. Lets hope it incites us to action, and not to despair. Legislation across the U.S. indicates that states are bracing for the potential of a post-Roe world. 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 law was rendered unconstitutional after the passage of Proposal 3 in November. 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. Click here to download the complete press kit. The development of medication abortion has vastly changed the landscape. But their lawyer, Jo-Ann Wolfson, had a plan to keep delaying the court proceedings because she knew that the Supreme Court was hearing a case about another Jane Roe v. Wade. Powerful evidence of the unimaginable Clara Germani. Check your local listings for air dates and times. The documentary begins with a cautionary tale. 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. 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. Before Roe v. Wade, a secret group provided abortions. 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". So we had about over 100 counts of felony homicide against us, each of us. Booth tells her story in "The Janes." Himes said he consulted friends who work in television for advice on who should narrate the piece. The committee was tasked with producing a report with policy recommendations, but Himes wanted to go further than that. used by permission and protected by the 7 min read. 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. After realizing the consequences of anti-abortion law around the world, she took it upon herself to provide abortions on ships in the ocean. This documentary, accompanied by dozens of in-depth interviews published as part of the FRONTLINE Transparency Project, examined then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells decades-long campaign to transform the nations highest court and its profound implications. As far as I can tell, theres a huge commonality of interests between radically different levels of affluence, he said. They drove women to and from appointments, explained how the process would unfold and babysat their children while they underwent the procedure. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. A decade after Roe v. Wade, FRONTLINE visited an abortion clinic in Pennsylvania, covering the conflict over reproductive rights like never before on American television. They just left. BOOTH: I'm hoping that it's actually a call to action. The students who made the film graduated, but stayed in touch with Cassanello and Mills about the films success. Barbara Thorp (bottom row, left) wasdirector of the Catholic Archdiocese Pro-Life Office in Massachusetts at the time of the clinic shooting, and served on the executive boards of the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, and Women Affirming Life. Barron says someone in the Chicago mob took her to a seedy motel with another young, pregnant woman. Access to postabortion contraception. The documentary and supporting materials serve as a perfect springboard to have healthier, deeper, more connective conversations about abortion in your context. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. And at that point, I realized we better set up a system. Wade.' COLLEEN HAMILTON, LYNN AND LOUIS WOLFSON II 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. Suncoast Emmy Award Nomination - Editor 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. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. 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 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. Some women left the collective because they felt both personally betrayed and that they had betrayed the women they counseled. While most of the Janes were white, middle-class women, most of those they served were low-income Latinas and Black women. Featuring two of the victims and one interrogator, the film exposes the committees subversive activities and how its effects are still felt today. The film will debut on HBO on Wednesday, June 8 and will then be available to stream on HBO Max. Here is a partial list of stations that will air The Committee. "The Janes" is streaming on HBO Max. Senator Bob Graham. The film details how the women of the Chicago-based group worked and helped women obtain safe and affordable abortions. In this short documentary, FRONTLINE followed a group of African American anti-abortion activists and their work inside the Black community. DEL BARCO: The Janes say their clients included wives and girlfriends of police officers. Gasparilla International Film Festival 2012. 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. Will they matter? Get in the bathroom. AMY SIMPSON, UCF College of Arts & Humanities Web Team, LOU ELLEN KRAMER We must care with compassion, and unlike in the male-dominated medical establishment, encourage collective care and knowledge. Released in 2018, Just after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, Reversing Roe examines how the abortion debate became more heated than ever before. The groups in the letter claim that overturning the constitutional right to abortion contravenes the USs international obligations as a UN member organization. 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. These documentaries offer context on how America reached this moment. Anti-abortion activists have tapped into that sentiment in Virginia and elsewhere and are proposing changes to zoning laws to stop the clinics from moving in. 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. The documentary also reported on the increase in clinic invasions and threats. Fifty years ago, Floridas Legislative Investigative Committee, led by Senator Charley Johns sought to remove homosexuals from Florida's state universities. Interviews with former members and with women who sought their services are interwoven in the documentary with archival footage from septic abortion wards in Chicago hospitals, where women who had illegal abortions or tried to induce their own often wound up with infections and sometimes took their last breaths alone. Essential Partners We tried to do it with as much respect and understanding as we could.. Almost daily, the Reproductive Health Services clinic in Montgomery, Alabama, receives several versions of the same call: Are yall still doing abortions?". Editor's note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. 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Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday fielded questions from lawmakers regarding alleged anti-Catholic, anti-pro-life bias within the . Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival 2013 I was just laying there trying to, you know, get my breath, and I knew I was bleeding. 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. 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. A new documentary series warns about the dangers of chemical abortions, as the Biden Administration has recently removed restrictions on the abortion pill .