Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The owner of Kay Jewelers and Jared settles a 15-year-old lawsuit, Microsoft is removing NDAs for former employees, and a new documentary tells the story of women who became abortion providers before Roe v. Wade. Have a restful weekend.
– Not-so-ancient history. A Supreme Court decision on the fate of Roe v. Wade is expected any day now. As we wait for the ruling, perhaps distracting ourselves with Netflix’s latest offers, allow me to make a streaming recommendation for your weekend: The Janes, a new documentary now available on HBO.
The film tells the story of a group of Chicago women who in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped pregnant people access abortions. Though illegal under Illinois law, the Janes, as they called themselves, provided counseling and support to pregnant women, helping them navigate a trying experience. (The group’s name was a nod to the service hot line. Users were told to “ask for Jane.”)
Their approach was a marked shift away from the dangerous mob-run abortions that were commonplace and often left women in the septic abortion ward at Cook County Hospital. Eventually, after the man who had been their main abortion provider quit, the Janes learned to perform the procedure themselves. In May 1972—almost 50 years to the day of last month’s Supreme Court leak—seven of the Janes were arrested for violating Illinois’ abortion law. Their case was dropped after Roe v. Wade was decided.
Today, the Janes are in their 70s and 80s. Some were college-age when they joined the group, while others were older and already parents themselves. And while many of the women are angry and frustrated by the likely reversal of Roe, they’re admittedly hard to faze. Roe v. Wade’s decision in 1973 was simply a blip on their radar as they diligently continued their work. “We were really busy,” remembers Eileen Smith, 72, who turned to Jane for an abortion in 1971 and joined the organization soon after. “We were like, ‘Oh, this is good,’ but we were also in the middle of providing abortions and doing counseling.”
Roe never seemed like a cure-all to the women of Jane. The introduction of the Hyde Amendment in 1976, barring the use of federal funds like Medicaid to cover abortion costs, signaled to these women that the fight for abortion rights wasn’t over. “You could see different states pulling these stunts and you saw how it was being chipped away,” Smith reflects.
Still, the pre-Roe and post-Roe worlds have some characteristics in common—and some important differences. The documentary describes how Jane served patients from all backgrounds, races, and income levels—until New York legalized abortion in 1970. Then, women of means began traveling to New York for a legal procedure, while poor women in Chicago continued to turn to Jane.
With medication abortions now responsible for more than half of all pregnancy terminations in the U.S., a modern-day version of Jane might involve mailing pills rather than shepherding women to an illegal abortion clinic. But the rise of Big Data makes developing a structured group like Jane risky in other ways.
Smith and her close friend Diane Stevens, who met through Jane, both went on to work in the health care field; Stevens, 73, was part of the cohort arrested in 1972 and had to be heavily persuaded to appear in the documentary. “That was a chapter of my life that was over. I went on to just have a regular life. I went back to school, got a nursing degree, got married, had children,” she says. ‘I didn’t even think about it very much.”
The women of Jane want today’s abortion rights advocates to know that they don’t have to be perfect to fight for access to reproductive care. Between 1968 and 1973, the group served an estimated 11,000 women. “We weren’t anybody special, but we ended up making a difference,” says Smith. “I hope people see that: that you don’t have to be extraordinary.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Paige McGlauflin. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Surprising admission. Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former President Donald Trump, told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that she “accepted” former attorney general William Barr’s assertion that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud. “I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he said — was saying,” she said in a recorded video interview. New York Times
-More layoffs. Personal styling platform Stitch Fix laid off 15% of its salaried employees ahead of its second-quarter earnings call on Thursday. Some 300 employees, representing about 4% of the company’s overall workforce, were notified of the cuts in an internal memo. CEO Elizabeth Spaulding said the company is not on track to meet its active client count goals, and earlier this year, cut its revenue guidance for 2022 and withdrew its earnings forecast. CNBC
- Adverse effects. In 1992, the FDA implemented a 14-year moratorium for manufacturing silicone breast implants, often used in reconstruction surgery for breast cancer survivors. The ban ended in 2006, allowing manufacturers to return to the market without restrictions in place, save for an agreement to conduct long-term post-market research studies. Those studies haven’t been completed in the 16 years since. Over 350,000 people in the U.S. have reported adverse effects of implants to the FDA in the last decade, prompting activists and patients to call for more research and transparency. Slate
- Missed connections. Fortune senior writer Phil Wahba spoke with Martine Ferland, CEO of employee benefits consulting firm Mercer, about waning employee loyalty, and why traditional incentives (say, free lunch) won’t bring employees back to the office. “There has to be value in coming here,” Ferland says. Today's employees, she notes, want flexibility, work-life balance, wellness services, and employee assistance programs. Fortune
- Long-sought settlement. Kay Jewelers and Jared parent company Sterling Jewelers has agreed to pay $175 million to settle a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit brought by 68,000 employees. The suit’s claims were limited to discrimination in pay and promotion, but several women cited incidents of sexual harassment or assault in their statements. The case, filed in 2008 and stalled by delays, became a focal point of the #MeToo movement in 2017. Washington Post
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Former Quartz and Barron's editor in chief Katherine Bell is joining Goldman Sachs as editor in chief. PointsBet appointed former International Olympic Committee global partnership manager Ansley O’Neal as vice president of brand strategy and marketing. Smarsh has hired Kim Crawford Goodman as their new CEO. Digital marketing agency Huge has appointed Marisa Todd as executive creative director, Katherine Jones-Siemsen as head of product and technology, Kim Nguyen as head of distributed commerce, and Nina Osborn as head of strategy. Digital health solutions company imaware has hired Angie Inlow as chief growth officer. Former Gemini head of learning and development Margaret Gabriel has joined web3 and blockchain-focused investment firm CoinFund as head of talent. Data protection provider OwnBackup has appointed Courtnee LeClaire as chief marketing officer and Alyssa Lahar as chief people officer.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Necessary support. Mount Sinai is opening a clinic in Manhattan to support women and families who experience stillbirth. Created in collaboration with the group PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy, the Mount Sinai Rainbow Clinic will provide care and psychological support to help pregnant people mitigate their fear and anxiety, and prevent another loss. CBS News
- Policy reforms. Microsoft announced plans to terminate nondisclosure clauses for former U.S. employees, which bar them from discussing misconduct allegations, and non-compete clauses for junior staff. Starting in January, the company will publicly disclose salary ranges in the U.S. The policy revamps coincide with new or upcoming Washington State laws, where Microsoft is based, but apply to all U.S. employees. GeekWire
- Rebrand struggles. Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar is working in overdrive to shed her company's reputation as a divisive neighborhood app, one that has allowed toxic content, such as racial profiling, misinformation, and fear-mongering, to proliferate on its platform. At its IPO, the company chose KIND as its ticker, and Friar insists that it's taken steps to remove harmful practices like the ability to forward posts to law enforcement. Bloomberg
- Earned recognition. The Nederlander Organization, which operates nine of the 41 theatres on Broadway, is renaming its Brooks Atkinson Theatre after performer and activist Lena Horne, making her the first Black woman to grace a theater’s marquee. Nederlander Organization is the last of the top three theater owners to rename a venue after a Black artist, as part of an agreement reached with Black Theater United last year. Horne, who died in 2010, was the first African American woman to earn a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical in 1958. New York Times
ON MY RADAR
The daily revelations of Kellyoke New York Times
Alison Bechdel amended the Bechdel test just for Fire Island Vanity Fair
The girlbosses of fertility The Cut
Young people discover hot new writer—Agatha Christie Wall Street Journal
PARTING WORDS
-Actress Julie Andrews on her introduction to Walt Disney and casting in Mary Poppins, her first on-screen role and Oscar win.
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