Back Alley Detroit
Produced by Daniel Friedman and Sharon Grimberg

• "A must for everyone who cares about the reproductive rights of women. A rare opportunity to hear women of color and others in the community describe the realities of illegal abortion." - Co-authors, The New Our Bodies, Ourselves
• "This sympathetic and powerful production recalls a chilling era in the chronicle of the abortion debate in the U. S." - Booklist

The generation that came of age since Roe v. Wade knows little of the sordid realities once faced by women seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy. This historical documentary tells the story of illegal abortions as they were experienced by all kinds of women - rich and poor, white and minority, married and single. It chronicles the physicians, clergy, and women's health activists whose quiet defiance of abortion laws stands as a dramatic unwritten chapter in the history of U.S. civil disobedience.

Among those who risked prosecution were the members of the Jane Collective. This clandestine group was composed of self-taught activists who safely performed over 10,000 abortions in Chicago.

Back Alley Detroit recalls a period when women lived in terror of unwanted pregnancies, while an underworld profited from their vulnerability.

This VHS video is 47 minutes long.