Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. The title is quite powerful as is its author, Gretchen Sisson, PhD. Gretchen has been making waves with her groundbreaking studies on abortion and adoption in the US. Her work sheds light on the experiences of women who have relinquished their child for adoption since Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court’s dissent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health from Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor cited Gretchen’s research. The stories of relinquishing mothers reveal a larger societal problem of our country’s refusal to care for families at the most basic level.
We continue our conversation with Laura Kaplan, author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. A member of the Abortion Counseling Service, code name Jane, Laura recounts the evolution of the organization. And the power of women helping women. Jane was a feminist underground of diverse women who provided low-cost abortion services, counseling and referrals before abortion was legalized in 1973. With the Dobbs decision and the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the story is one that we are reliving.
Part 2 of our conversation…how the women took control after learning the doctor wasn’t a real doctor. The arrest of 7, the passing of Roe v. Wade and the underground.
Laura Kaplan was one of the members of the 1970’s underground abortion service, Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation. Code name ‘Jane’, the Chicago based organization was a place for women seeking an abortion. There they could find a level of protection and financial help. Laura is the author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.
‘Misinformation goes viral much quicker than the good old-fashioned truth.’
The first thing that jumped out at me as needing clarification had to do with birth control. It was the weirdest thing that was going viral – the idea that melatonin (quote-unquote) ‘cancels out your birth control.’
And so, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln went viral – viral with facts. Jennifer is a board-certified OB GYN who uses social media to educate and bust myths. She’s the sex education educator who should be in every school. No shame, no judgment, Dr. Lincoln demystifies sex ed and breaks down stigmas. Her passion is helping girls, women and those assigned female at birth to understand their bodies and feel empowered to advocate for themselves.
