THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Martha Scott
“My Small Amount of Activism Made a Whole Lot of Difference. It was Short Lived, Illegal and Intense.”
Women’s health, specifically reproductive rights advocate. Member of Jane: The Abortion Counseling Service.
Interviewed by Mary Jean Collins, VFA Historian, April 2023
![The Janes – Still 1](https://i0.wp.com/veteranfeministsofamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2-The-Janes-1-1024x576-1.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1)
Photo. Formed in 1965, Jane was an underground network in Chicago that counseled and helped women who wanted to have abortions. From left: Martha Scott, Jeanne Galatzer-Levy, Abby Pariser, Sheila Smith and Madeline Schwenk were among the seven members of Jane arrested in 1972 (Courtesy of Martha Scott).
More About Martha:
- “50 years after her arrest, Jane member Martha Scott discusses abortion rights,” by Aaron Gettinger, May 10, 2022
- “Code Names and Secret Lives: How a Radical Underground Network Helped Women Get Abortions Before They Were Legal,” by Clara Bingham, Vanity Fair, April 17, 2019
- “Chicago’s Forgotten Pro-Choice Warriors,” by Marcia Froelke Coburn, Chicago Magazine, March 19, 2019
- “Before ‘Roe v. Wade,’ The Women of ‘Jane’ Provided Abortions For The Women Of Chicago,” by Nellie Gilles, Sarah Kramer, Joe Richman, WBEZ, January 19, 2018
- “The Janes,” HBO documentary
- Jane: An Abortion Service, Chicago Women’s Liberation Union Herstory Project
- The Jane Collective on Wikipedia
- Martha Scott papers regarding Jane: The Abortion Counseling Service, Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History