Here are the mug shots of some members of the Jane Collective — seven were arrested, but none put on trial, saved because the 1973 Roe v Wade decision was pronounced just in time. The Janes were a group of women who provided safe but underground abortions in the Chicago area before the procedure was legalized.
Two women got the Jane Collective going: Heather Booth, inspired by a friend who needed an abortion, and a still anonymous woman who had been disgusted by the difficulties she encountered with seeking an abortion that had been necessary to safe her life.
The Jane Collective ran from 1969-1973, and there were several distinct things about it. First, it didn’t require patients to give a personal explanation. Second, it accepted people from all social and racial backgrounds. Third, it combined proper medical care with personal care — patients could talk to the abortion providers in ways that they couldn’t with their white-coated male doctors.
The Janes took enormous risks to provide their services, and operated successfully for years because their precautions to escape detection were so good. Their offices were finally raided in 1973, but charges were dropped after Roe v Wade.
Sources: Photo: Chicago Police Department. https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/jane-collextive-1969-1973. Rainey Horowitz, 2017-08-07
