The past – a hidden, women-run network of abortion providers in the late 1960s – serves as a window into the future of restricted reproductive rights in the United States, according to an HBO documentary.
The Janes is a documentary film that transports audiences to America before Roe v. Wade, when abortion was illegal in the majority of states. It is based on a group of women known as Jane who formed an underground network for women seeking safe and inexpensive abortions. Former Janes and women who have used their services, as well as legal and medical professionals, will be featured in the film.
The film is released at a time when the United States is immersed in a fierce debate over women’s reproductive rights, with anxieties looming over a potential overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision.
HBO’s The Janes Release Date
The Janes, directed by Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin, will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on June 8, 2022, at 9.00 p.m. ET/PT. Before the documentary’s debut, here’s a rundown of the famous Roe v. Wade decision.
‘The Janes’ is a narrative of ladies who sacrificed all to help women in pre-Roe America exercise their right to choose.
The video depicts the trials and tribulations of women seeking abortion in the 1960s when it was illegal in most states. An underground network of women known as Jane ventured to defy the law and deliver safe and inexpensive abortions at that time. They provided 11,000 abortions to many impoverished and vulnerable women who are frequently placed on the margins of the medical system.
The origins of the Roe v. Wade decision are investigated prior to the release of ‘The Janes.’
In 1973, a lawsuit challenging Texas abortion rules resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision declaring that overly stringent state abortion regulations are unconstitutional. Abortion was prohibited in Texas prior to Roe v. Wade unless it was used to save the mother’s life. It was illegal to both obtain and conduct an abortion. Norma McCorvey, aka Jane Roe (a fake name used to shield the plaintiff’s identity), filed a federal lawsuit against Henry Wade, the Dallas County district attorney, in 1970.
The state of Texas’ arguments in support of the abortion ban were based on the state’s interest in protecting public health, medical standards, and prenatal life. The state further asserted that a foetus is a “person” entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment and that safeguarding foetal life is a compelling state interest. Jane Roe and others argued that the Texas legislation violated an individual’s right to liberty and infringed on the Bill of Rights’ guarantees of marital, familial, and sexual privacy. They contended that women should have an unrestricted right to abortion.
Today is the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, recognizing that the right to privacy protects the right to access and use contraception. The right to privacy in Griswold is what underlies Roe v. Wade. Here’s what it all means. pic.twitter.com/Opge7xS1Jq
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) June 7, 2022
Following hearings from both sides, the Supreme Court made two important decisions:
1) The United States Constitution protects a person’s choice to choose whether or not to have an abortion as a fundamental “right to privacy.”
2) However, the right to abortion is not absolute. It must be balanced against the government’s interests in health and prenatal life protection.
The Roe v. Wade decision’s ramifications
Roe v. Wade is often misunderstood as having legalised abortion. When all it did was change how states might control abortion and delimit abortion within the constitutional right to privacy. According to the Guttmacher Institute, roughly one million illegal abortions were carried out in the United States each year before to the Roe v. Wade ruling. Except for the rate of deaths caused by abortions, that number has stayed relatively constant since the ruling. The death rate fell dramatically in the years following the ruling, as abortions were performed more safely by skilled physicians.
Roe v. Wade’s current status
We continue to urge Congress to enact Roe v. Wade, which protects your freedom to make decisions about your own body without interference from the government. The momentous Roe v. Wade decision was not without controversy and resistance. Abortion opponents demand that the ruling be overturned and that stronger abortion regulations be enacted. The subject continues to be a heated topic in presidential debates, and anxiety of the ruling being overturned ebbs and flows depending on which regime is in power.
We continue to call on Congress to make Roe v. Wade the law, which would protect your right to make decisions about your own body without the government interfering.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 7, 2022
The leaked Supreme Court judgement indicating that Roe v. Wade will be overturned generated a number of issues about post-Roe America. It also provoked outrage and protests about women’s reproductive rights and agency.
How to Watch The Janes?
The Janes is an HBO Original film that will air on the network first. You can watch HBO Max or live TV streaming services like Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV if you don’t have traditional cable or satellite television. All you have to do now is add an HBO membership to your current plan.
The Janes premieres on HBO and HBO Max on June 8, 2022.