Heather Booth assisted her friend in obtaining a safe abortion in 1965. Afterwards, women with unplanned pregnancies of their own began to seek Booth out, hoping to receive access to a safe abortion themselves. As the demand became too high to maintain herself, Booth sought external help from various women’s activists, and the Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation, or "Jane", was born.
THE EARLY YEARS
Heather Booth
Heather Booth
Heather Booth, founder of the Jane Collective. Retrieved from the Jewish Women's Archive.
"So I called Dr. Howard and set up the system. I was living in a dormitory,so I told people to ask for Jane"
~Heather Booth~
"Jane" began as a referral service, but quickly evolved into an abortion clinic as members realized they could learn how to perform the procedures themselves, for half the price.
"Doctors had often insisted patients wear blindfolds to protect physicians’ own identities; the Janes scrapped that. They dropped the price to $100, or whatever a woman could pay, and ditched cheap motel rooms for their own apartments."
-Portland Monthly