A Story of Sisterhood?
With their new-found knowledge, Jane members had the ability to provide women with reproductive choice, an important goal for the collective.[18] Women working for the service described their connection as sisterly, unified by their belief that women should have access to safe abortions.[19] This sisterly bond came from the commitment to egalitarianism between the service members but also between the clients and the women from Jane performing the abortions. Egalitarianism did not make up for the fact that this sisterhood was comprised of almost entirely white, middle class, women.[20] Often, this created uncomfortable experiences for the clientele that came from diverse racial, ethnical and socio-economic backgrounds. [21] Even as the Jane service grew and more members joined, the number of young, single, and African American members remained small. [22] Equality between Jane members was also tested by the hierarchy of knowledge within the service. Sisterhood had its limits as those who possessed the knowledge to perform the abortions formed an inner circle that excluded members by manipulating them out of the inner circle when limiting the information they were given. [23] Judith Arcana describes this seemingly selective sisterhood, "there were a couple of women who had all the power and choose what information they would tell and what they wouldnt...it [the inner circle] was very manipulative and covert but the whole operation, the service itself, worked very well".[24] Regardless of the dynamics between the members, the commitment to providing safe abortions was something that brought the Jane women together.
Unlike the typical doctor-patient relationship, the relationship within Jane was not one of hierarchy, women receiving the abortions were referred to as participants rather than patients. [25] Jane members would ensure that participants were comfortable with their situation by informing them about all aspects of the procedure, something doctors typically did not do. Members of the service showed solidarity by recognizing that getting an abortion could be an emotional experience. [26] One of the Jane members Ruth Surgal explains in the Jane documentary, "We provided our service in an unstructured and non-hierarchical way so that the women who came to us in need were included in the process". [27] The consensus amongst Jane members that the abortions were given in an all-inclusive environment lacks consciousness of the fact the Jane service was a group of almost entirely middle class, white women helping a diverse group of women, who all experience pregnancy in different ways, access abortions. One African American woman who had an abortion with Jane described the procedure as uncomfortable and atrocious. [28]Although many clients of the service were relieved to receive an abortion if given the choice most would have preferred a more clinical setting. The secret makeshift clinics in "sparse apartments' with cots covered in plastic liners made for unsanitary conditions and painful procedures.[29] Yet, the reality of an underground abortion clinic run by self-taught abortionists is not clinical waiting rooms and clean sheets; it is finding a way to provide women with a safe reproductive choice.