Ema Pildes – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE JANES – Review by Leslie Combemale

May 14, 2022October 31, 2022 Leslie Combemale Abortion Counseling Service, documentaries, Ema Pildes, Heather Booth, jane collective, Joanne Wolfson, Judith Arcana, Marie Leaner, Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, Rev. Patricia Novick-Raby, The Janes, Tia Lessin

Co-directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes remind viewers of the importance of knowing our collective history in their timely new documentary The Janes. The film profiles the Jane Collective, a fearless, radical group of underground activists that believed in reproductive freedom, and came together to aid women of the pre-Roe V. Wade era in getting safe abortions. It is a comprehensive look at a group officially known as the Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation. Between 1968 and 1973, they were able to make 11,000 safe abortions happen, when, without them, long term negative consequences or death was a distinct possibility for those who sought to end their pregnancies, beginning their work at a time when hospitals still had a dedicated septic abortion ward.

Festivals Reviews

THE JANES (Sundance FF 2022) – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 25, 2022January 29, 2022 Leslie Combemale Abortion Counseling Service, documentaries, Ema Pildes, Heather Booth, jane collective, Joanne Wolfson, Judith Arcana, Marie Leaner, Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, Rev. Patricia Novick-Raby, sundance film festival 2022, The Janes, Tia Lessin

Co-directors Tia Lessin and Ema Pildes remind viewers of the importance of knowing our collective history in their timely new documentary The Janes. The film profiles the Jane Collective, a fearless, radical group of underground activists that believed in reproductive freedom, and came together to aid women of the pre-Roe V. Wade era in getting safe abortions. Between 1968 and 1973, they were able to make 11,000 safe abortions happen, when, without them, long term negative consequences or death was a distinct possibility for those who sought to end their pregnancies.