Call Jane
Call Jane
Set in the late 1960s, a pregnant housewife finds out she has a potentially life threatening illness, and the only treatment is to have an abortion. Declined by the hospital board of directors, she sets out to find an alternative to hospital treatment. Upon finding a group who offer services to facilitate illegal abortions, she then gets more involved in the service, "Call Jane."
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 6, 2025
A dramatic look into The Janes Collective, an underground abortion network in pre-Roe V. Wade Chicago. Told through the fictional lens of Joy (Elizabeth Banks) who’s pregnancy is causing her congestive heart failure and is informed that an abortion may be her only cure. But when the board of physicians votes against the exception that would allow for the procedure, she’s left to seek alternative methods. In the Janes Collective, she finds her answer and possibly a new calling. Examining the struggles that the Janes faced, the film touches on the disparities in race and class albeit in a rather oversimplified manner. Still, it’s an effective drama with an impressive performance from Banks