“AKA Jane Roe,” the story of Roe v. Wade plaintiff and pro-choice turned anti-choice activist Norma McCorvey, is FX Networks’ first feature-length documentary acquisition. Deadline confirms the film will premiere May 22 on FX and will begin streaming on Hulu the following day.
Described as “the true story of McCorvey in the landmark ruling on abortion rights,” “AKA Jane Roe” “will feature her final series of interviews prior to her death and reveals the unvarnished truth behind her journey from pro-choice to pro-life and beyond – in what she calls her ‘deathbed confession.'”
Nick Sweeney directed the doc and produced alongside Kerstin Emhoff and Chiemi Karasawa.
Filed on behalf of the pregnant McCorvey, who used the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” by her lawyer, Sarah Weddington, Roe v. Wade began as a fight against a Texas law that prohibited abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger. Weddington and her team filed suit against Henry Wade, the Dallas DA, and the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. The law — and the laws like it in 30 other states — was overturned 7–2.
Since then, anti-choice legislators and activists have systemically weakened Roe v. Wade’s power and reach. McCorvey herself, who died in February 2017, had a change of heart, joined the anti-choice movement, and spent the later part of her life fighting against what she and Weddington accomplished.
Just yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments about a law in Louisiana that requires doctors providing abortions to have admitting privileges to nearby hospitals — a rule that does nothing but serve as a roadblock for those seeking and administering abortions. A decision on June Medical Services v. Russo is expected in June. Over the past year, increasingly draconian abortion bans have been proposed or introduced throughout the country, most likely with the purpose of further dismantling or even completely overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the story of a pregnant teen who — because of a lack of reproductive healthcare and information in her rural Pennsylvania community — must go to New York City for an abortion, hits theaters March 13. Eliza Hittman’s drama recently made its NY premiere at the Athena Film Festival and took home the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. It won a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Neorealism at Sundance in January.
The Jane Collective, a group of women who formed an underground abortion network in the days before Roe v. Wade, was the subject of last year’s “Ask for Jane,” directed by Rachel Carey. The org’s story will also be told in Michelle Williams-starrer “This Is Jane,” from Kimberly Peirce, and “Call Jane,” directed by Sian Heder and led by Elisabeth Moss and Susan Sarandon.
