Ru 486 Misconceptions Myths and Morals - ressourcesfeministes

ConclusionThis article, appearing in Qualitative Sociology (1987:339–56),documented and described the work of Jane in Chicago. Janefunctioned as an illegal abortion service working out of privateapartments from 1969–1973, until some of its foundersdecided that the 1973 US Supreme Court decision made theservice obsolete. Others connected with Jane felt that theservice never should have stopped doing abortions, becausenobody did them better. Even in the few months after theUS Supreme Court legalized abortions, Jane was receivingover 300 calls a week (Elze, 1988:12). Over the course offour years, they performed 11,000 abortions at various stagesof pregnancy. Their safety record for first trimester abortionswas equal to that of New York State after 1973, following thelegalization of abortion there (Clement, 1983:10).During the 1970s, many women’s self-help groupspracticed a technique know as menstrual extraction. Initiallydeveloped by Lorraine Rothman and women at the LosAngeles Self Help Clinic in 1971, menstrual extraction gentlyremoves by suction the contents of the uterus on or aboutthe first day of menstruation. Using a flexible plastic cannulaattached to a bottle, an automatic valve attachment controlsthe direction of the air flow and locks in the pressure,eliminating any possibility of pushing menstrual fluid or airback into the uterus (Rothman, 1978:45). No uterineperforations, infection, or air embolisms resulted, as haveoccurred at times with physicians who use dilators, largerigid cannulas and curettes (ibid., 48). Obviously, thistechnique depends upon women engaging in self-help groupsand being part of an ongoing contingent of women dedicatedto learning and practising the technique with each other.However, there is no reason why more women cannot learnmenstrual extraction and begin to practice it in self-help groupsas happened earlier.Abortion is not a complicated procedure. If women couldlearn to be midwives attending birth and performing a widerrange of complex and skilled procedures, even more women119