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Before abortion was debated on television panels or litigated in Supreme Court chambers, it was whispered about in dorm rooms and kitchens. It was a secret carried in shame, in fear, in coded phone calls. And when a desperate woman in Chicago once asked if anyone knew where she could get help, the answer she was given was simple: “Call Jane.” Jane wasn’t a clinic. It wasn’t a doctor’s office. It was a network—organized, disciplined, and led by women who refused to let other women suffer alone. At the center of it was Heather Booth, then a young organizer shaped by the civil rights movement and the belief that systems only change when ordinary people act with extraordinary courage. In the late 1960s, abortion was illegal in most states. Women with money traveled quietly. Women without money risked unsafe procedures, exploitation, or death. Booth saw the inequality clearly: legality was not the only issue—access was. So she helped build something radical for its time. Jane screened doctors. Negotiated prices. Arranged safe apartments. Eventually, members learned to perform the procedures themselves, safely and carefully, because even the so-called professionals were sometimes cutting corners. Over the years, they helped an estimated 11,000 women. That number is staggering. But what matters just as much is the philosophy behind it. Booth wasn’t chasing attention. She was building infrastructure. She understood something many activists miss: outrage fades, but organization sustains. When police raided Jane in 1972 and arrested several members, it could have collapsed. Instead, the network held steady. Months later, Roe v. Wade rendered the charges moot—but the women had already proven that collective courage could outpace the law. And Booth didn’t stop there. She carried those lessons into labor organizing, healthcare reform, voting rights, and political strategy. She became one of the architects behind modern progressive organizing—training leaders, building coalitions, teaching people how to turn moral clarity into structural power. She has spent decades reminding movements that passion without discipline burns out, but disciplined love can change a country. © Reddit #archaeohistories