In defiance of the state legislature that had passed a law criminalizing abortion, the Catholic Church that had condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that had made profits from it, the members of "Jane" put their own personal and professional lives in danger in order to provide assistance to women who were carrying unintended pregnancies. In the years before the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, the Janes offered free or low-cost abortions to an estimated 11,000 women. At the time, abortion was illegal in the majority of states, and in Illinois, simply disseminating information about abortion was a criminal offense.
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In defiance of the state legislature that had passed a law criminalizing abortion, the Catholic Church that had condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that had made profits from it, the members of "Jane" put their own personal and professional lives in danger in order to provide assistance to women who were carrying unintended pregnancies. In the years before the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, the Janes offered free or low-cost abortions to an estimated 11,000 women. At the time, abortion was illegal in the majority of states, and in Illinois, simply disseminating information about abortion was a criminal offense.
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