The Story of Jane, Laura Kaplan
The Story of Jane, Laura Kaplan
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

The Story of Jane
The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service

Author: Laura Kaplan

Narrator: Tavia Gilbert

Unabridged: 10 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/13/2019

Synopsis

First published in 1997, The Story of Jane recounts the evolution of Jane, the underground group in Chicago that performed abortion services before the procedure was legalized. An extraordinary history by one of its members, this is the first account of Jane's evolution, the conflicts within the group, and the impact its work had both on the women it helped and the members themselves. This audiobook stands as a compelling testament to a woman's most essential freedom—control over her own body—and to the power of women helping women.A movie based on the book, titled This Is Jane, has been produced by Amazon Studios, with Michelle Williams starring.

About Laura Kaplan

Laura Kaplan was a founding member of the Emma Goldman Women’s Health Center in Chicago. A lifelong activist, she was a lay midwife and an advocate for battered women and nursing home residents, and now works locally on immigrant rights and criminal justice inequities.

About Tavia Gilbert

Tavia Gilbert has recorded hundreds of titles across a wide span of genres, including Erica Spindler romantic thrillers, John Scalzi science fiction, Jeaniene Frost fantasy.  She received four Audies nominations and won three Audiofile Earphones Awards for titles The Obituary Writer, Sing Them Home and The Day of the Pelican.  In addition to voice acting, Gilbert is an accomplished producer, singer and theater actor.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Hannah on December 04, 2024

This book was recommended by a friend who read it and couldn't wait to share about it. I could see why. It's got everything in here - the context of how and why Jane was set up, by whom, with what resources, etc. Also included the logistical and interpersonal challenges of putting together something......more

Goodreads review by Wealhtheow on January 18, 2009

A study of the Chicago abortion underground in the 1960s and 70s, written by an actual member of Jane. Jane started in the 60s as a referral service. A loose collection of women referred desperate women to abortionists that had better reputations than most: less likely to require sex or to accidenta......more

Goodreads review by Erik on May 31, 2021

As we perilously look into a future abyss caused by the Supreme Court overturning the reproductive rights granted to women in 1973 with Roe v. Wade I thought it important to take a trip back to a pre-Roe world and to hear the stories of the women who ran one of the largest extralegal, underground ab......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on October 30, 2021

An Unvarnished Homage Laura Kaplan’s ethnography of “Jane,” Chicago’s underground abortion service (circa 1969 - 1973), is not a book of propaganda. She by no means idealizes the service which, in the beginning, had some serious faults. The women themselves were a mixed lot and Kaplan is candid and......more

Goodreads review by Jen on August 05, 2007

SO good. A great account of the often silent (or at least quiet) history of the incredible Chicago-based group that provided illegal/extralegal abortions in the few years before Roe. A little lacking in the critique of the "other part" of the choice debates (i.e. the forced/coerced sterilizations of......more

Quotes

“Kaplan’s account of this remarkable story recaptures the political idealism of the early ’70s.” San Francisco Chronicle

“Kaplan’s The Story of Jane is the first book to chronicle this controversial sliver of history, and it is a fascinating, if partisan, close-up of the group.” Newsday

“Kaplan, who joined Jane in 1971, has pieced together the histories of the anonymous, average-sounding women who transformed themselves into outlaws.” Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Kaplan’s engrossing tales of the quiet courage of the women who risked their reputations and freedom to help others may remind many readers of other kinds of outlaws who have resisted tyranny throughout history.” Chicago Sun Times

"The Story of Jane is a piece of women’s history in step with feminist theory demanding that women tell their own stories. It serves to remind people of an important and often overlooked moment in the women’s rights movement.” Seattle Weekly

“A dramatic and important piece of women’s history.” Publishers Weekly

“This is lively, nuanced history that brings to life the hopes, terrors, and disappointments of a movement committed to giving women control over their own bodies.” Booklist

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