Women "died young and healthy": The "Janes" or the endless fight of American women for the right to abortion

"I was devastated," recalls Abby Pariser, 80, from her home in Huntington, a wealthy suburb of New York City. "I was furious that they would do this to women."

Like dozens of other American women now retired, Ms. Pariser dedicated her life more than 50 years ago to defending reproductive rights, at a time when abortion was illegal in the United States.

It was Chicago in the late 1960s. Students, mothers, and young professionals, these "ordinary women" —as they like to describe themselves—called themselves "Jane" and helped women obtain clandestine abortions.

That was before the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which guaranteed American women a federal right to terminate their pregnancies . And long before June 24, 2022, when the nation's highest court shattered that protection.

"No one could have imagined it," says Sakinah Ahad Shannon, 77, another of the "Janes," who is also one of the thousands of women who have had abortions through their services, her voice hoarse with emotion. "It was simply inconceivable that this could happen in this day and age, that we could go back to something so devastating."

This legal about-face, along with a shortly-released HBO documentary ("The Janes"), brought new attention to their past commitment. Several of them have since continued to speak out, testifying to the hardships faced by women before the adoption of Roe.

Mafia and taboo

At the time, access to contraceptives was very limited and the very idea of ​​abortion was completely taboo, Laura Kaplan, a former member of the group and author of a book on the subject, who lives in Woodstock, told AFP.

Yet, out of sight, women tried every means to end unwanted pregnancies, by ingesting poison or using the services of clandestine angel makers.

Corrupt doctors and Mafia henchmen controlled this thriving business , charging exorbitant prices. About $500 for an abortion, recalls Ms. Kaplan, 77, when "a two-bedroom apartment in Chicago rented for $150 a month."

Beyond the cost, some women were sexually assaulted or humiliated by these practitioners. Others did not survive.

" There was a department in public hospitals in every major city for women suffering from the consequences of illegal abortions ," she says. Women "died there, young and healthy, with their whole lives ahead of them."

Faced with this "tragedy," the "Jane" network was created. With a code name and an anonymous hotline, these women worked to negotiate prices with reliable professionals and then began performing abortions themselves, helping an estimated 11,000 people obtain abortions.

"Women paid $10, $50, or whatever they had in their pockets," Kaplan said.

"Say no"

But in the spring of 1972, seven "Janes," including Abby Pariser, were arrested during a police raid. "It was terrifying," she recalls, describing the night in the cell and the officers' disbelief at discovering an all-female underground network.

Despite this, the others decided to continue. "We knew we were committing multiple crimes every day," Laura Kaplan smiles defiantly.

Without Roe v. Wade, all of them could have ended their lives in prison. A possibility that no longer seems so remote.

Because since the federal abortion guarantee was revoked, more than 20 of the 50 states have banned or severely limited access to abortion, forcing many women to seek abortions in another state or to abort illegally.

And Donald Trump, who prides himself on playing a role in the Supreme Court's about-face by appointing conservative justices, could further restrict this access. He has also launched a new attack on the abortion pill.

"We were very naive," Ms. Pariser says confidently, pointing to the radicalization and growing political influence of the anti-abortion camp in recent decades.

These are people who "shot and killed doctors in their clinics or at church on Sundays. Crazy people," she chokes.

Despite this, American women today have access to far more resources than their elders and are determined not to lose these hard-won rights, these former "Janes" believe.

Women "refuse to give up," says Sakinah Ahad Shannon. "They're saying no like we said no 50 years ago."