Today the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the federal constitutional right to an abortion. This decision has already begun to transform reproductive health rights in the US – nearly half the states have, or will, pass laws that ban abortions. Not only will pregnant people be denied essential healthcare, some laws will criminalize those who seek treatment. We understand that abortion bans do not stop abortions. Abortion bans only stop people from seeking safe abortions, instead turning to alternative measures that often are dangerous. In conjunction with the lack of social welfare in this country, the ruling has opened the doors to create new social and public health crises. The opinion the Supreme Court displayed today is not held by Hull-House and never has been. 

Historically, Hull-House had a vested interest in creating access to reproductive health care, counseling, and education in Chicago’s West Side. The two leading figures in these efforts were Dr. Rachelle Yarros and Dr. Alice Hamilton, who worked at Hull-House through the early 1900s and into the 1920s. Conducting long-term studies of the 19th Ward and working directly with the health issues of those living there allowed Yarros and Hamilton to observe that many immigrant and migrant women in the neighborhood around Hull-House suffered from health issues due to excessive childbearing. Hamilton had established a well-baby clinic out of Hull-House through which she found that children in bigger families consistently had more health issues and higher mortality rates. These findings bolstered Yarros’ and Hamilton’s dedication to providing reproductive health and family planning services throughout the city.  

Over time, Yarros became a leader in the birth control movement, and she challenged the attitudes, policies, and practices that denied women access to birth control information and devices. She created sex education programs for women, and venereal disease education and prevention programs in hopes of promoting social hygiene on a larger scale.  

After establishing the Birth Control Committee of the Chicago Woman’s Club (later the Illinois Birth Control League and now Planned Parenthood of Illinois), Yarros joined other leaders in the movement in opening the first birth control clinic in Chicago, which was only the second clinic in the nation. She also sought to make birth control more accessible for working-class mothers – in 1927, another clinic opened out of Hull-House's Mary Crane Nursery.  

Despite their progressiveness regarding birth control and sex education, Yarros and Hamilton did not provide abortions on the grounds of their illegality. However, they knew very well that whether access was provided in formal medical spheres or not, women would still pursue abortions. 

“Birth control is carried on in the tenements all the time, but it is not prevention of conception, that the women do not understand. It is in the form of abortion which every woman can learn about if she wishes.”
- Alice Hamilton, 1925 

Yarros and Hamilton recognized the dangerous effects that criminalizing the procedure had on many women, as they often opted for much more dangerous options and resources. Yarros was especially haunted by the desperate measures to which women would often resort in the face of an unwanted pregnancy. 

Click here to View the More Information About Jane Addams Hull-House Museum's Response to SCOTUS' Roe v. Wade Decision