On November 9, 1922, my great grandmother Frances Owen departed Vancouver for the United States with the hopes of reaching Bellingham, Washington. An unmarried 25-year-old, she sought the care of Dr. Shute whom she heard from her friend Dot “was a good one to go to” to address that she was “6 weeks in a …

Continue reading My Great Grandmother, Abortion, and What We (Should) Ask of History

With the horror that is the recent spate of anti-abortion/forced-pregnancy laws, we are seeing a lot of talk about Jane. Heather Booth created the referral service in 1965 while a student at the University of Chicago. When the sister of a friend needed an abortion Booth used her activist network to locate a doctor who …

Continue reading Jane Wasn’t Alone: California Abortion Activists Before Roe