Judith Arcana

“In JANE, the underground abortion service in Chicago, all of us were always aware that what we were doing was illegal, that we could go to jail. We worked to keep a lot of what we did secret, literally underground. We knew these women are desperate, and they are going to hurt themselves and do awful things if they cannot find people to help them.”

Judith Arcana writes poems, stories, essays and books. She’s a JANE, a member of the feminist underground service that helped more than eleven thousand women and girls get safe illegal abortions in Chicago before the Roe decision in 1973. Judith worked in JANE for two years, and taught women’s health and sexuality classes for the Chicago Women’s Liberation School afterwards.

 Her most recent publications are a chapbook of poems, The Parachute Jump Effect (2012); a prose fiction zine, Keesha and Joanie and JANE (2013); and a set of three broadsides, The Water Portfolio (2014). Her story collection, Hello. This is Jane. – about tattooing and abortion – is now seeking a publisher. You can listen to her read poetry on SoundCloud and tell a story at KBOO.

For more info and many links, visit  www.juditharcana.com