Official Trailer for ‘The Janes’ Doc About Secret 70s Abortion Network

Official Trailer for ‘The Janes’ Doc About Secret 70s Abortion Network

by Alex Billington
May 11, 2022
Source: YouTube

“Sometimes you need to stand up to illegitimate authority.” HBO has revealed the trailer for an acclaimed documentary film titled The Janes, a remarkably important film about a remarkably true story from the 1970s. This premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and it will be streaming on HBO starting in June this summer. “We had to go underground.” Police arrested seven women who were part of a clandestine network. Using code names, blindfolds and safe houses, they built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions calling themselves “Jane“. The Janes tells the revelatory story of a group of unlikely outlaws. Defying state legislature that outlawed abortion, the Catholic Church that condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that was profiting from it, the members of “Jane” offer first-hand accounts, many speaking on the record for the first time. This has become an extraordinarily timely film about the importance of safe abortion access, no matter the circumstances. They also turned this story into a fictional feature film titled Call Jane, but this doc is much better – it is the must watch of these two films.

Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Tia Lessin & Emma Pildes’ doc The Janes, from YouTube:

In the spring of 1972, police raided an apartment on the South Side of Chicago where seven women who were part of a clandestine network were arrested and charged. Using code names, fronts, and safe houses to protect themselves and their work, the accused had built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions. They called themselves “Jane.” The Janes tells the story of a group of unlikely outlaws. Defying state legislature that outlawed abortion, the Catholic Church that condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that was profiting from it, the members risked their personal and professional lives to help women in need. In the pre-Roe v. Wade era – a time when abortion was a crime in most states and even circulating info about abortion was a felony in Illinois – the Janes provided low-cost / free abortions to an estimated 11,000 women. The Janes is directed by doc producers / filmmakers Tia Lessin (director of the docs Behind the Labels, Trouble the Water, Citizen Koch) & Emma Pildes (producer of the docs Jane Fonda in Five Acts, Very Ralph). This initially premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. HBO will release The Janes doc streaming on HBO Max starting June 8th, 2022 coming soon.

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