The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service

Engaging and informative from the first page, The Story of Jane details the experiences of many women involved with Chicago's underground abortion service in the years leading up to Roe v. Wade. These accounts are as inspiring as they are cautionary, full of hard work and determination as well as great personal and legal risk. This book feels woefully relevant at present, with the flaws in America's healthcare system exposed and stretched by the pandemic and the Supreme Court's recently leaked abortion opinion draft. The members of Jane went beyond the necessity of providing referrals and abortions; they counseled the women who sought services, empowering and educating them so that they could make the most informed decisions about their own bodies. Yet, it surprised me when Jane didn't consider Roe vs. Wade to be an unequivocal victory; I hadn't realized the law's limitations: the way it fails to center women, and uterus-having persons, as Jane envisioned by continuing to focus on the rights of physicians, viewing patients as objects rather than subjects of medical treatment. Absolutely eye-opening.