About this episode

This episode follows the story of Chicago's underground abortion network, featuring activists Heather Booth and Martha Scott.

They called it "The Service," the world has called them "The Janes" - this episode follows the story of Chicago's underground abortion network. From its 1965 inception, through their devastating police bust, and the eventual legalization of abortion on the federal level in 1973. Act I features Heather Booth, a Civil Rights activist who first founded the service and trained other women in her procedures and philosophies. In Act II we meet Martha Scott, a stay-at-home mom who decides to dedicate a bit of her time to a worthy cause, and ends up a central figure in the collective. Both women help paint a chilling picture of the time: including women's oppression, treatment in the medical industry, access to birth control, and the impact of "Our Bodies Ourselves." -Stream "The Janes" documentary on HBO -Order the book "The Story of Jane" by collective member Laura Kaplan Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, Jennifer McGinity

Guests: Heather Booth, Martha Scott

Topics covered

• abortion
• activism
• women's rights
• history
• Chicago
• medical industry

Keywords

• abortion network
• activism
• women's oppression
• Chicago
• 1965
• 1973
• Civil Rights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Service, The Janes, HBO, Our Bodies Ourselves

Books & works: The Story of Jane

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