Yahoo News Elizabeth Banks Helps Women in 1968 Chicago Gain Abortion Access in 'Call Jane' Trailer
Elizabeth Banks is fighting for the right to abortion access in Call Jane.
The first trailer for the film debuted Tuesday, in which Banks, 48, plays Joy, a housewife in 1968 Chicago whose pregnancy has a 50 percent chance of endangering her life.
Left with no other choice after an emergency approval for a termination is denied, she turns to the Jane Collective, an underground abortion clinic that gets her the help she needs.
"Which one of you is Jane?" Joy asks the group of women surrounding her as she rests after the procedure. "We're all Jane," comes the reply from Virginia, played by Sigourney Weaver.
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Wilson Webb/Roadside Attractions/Courtesy Everett Collection Call Jane (2022)
RELATED: Before Roe, These Women Ran an Underground Abortion Clinic: "It Was Important Work"
After her abortion, Joy is inspired to join Jane, facing the risks of being involved with an organization that could send her to prison.
Subsequent scenes show the sheer volume of requests pouring in from women who need procedures, and the mounting challenges Jane faces to provide access for as many as possible.
"Let's get to work," Joy says at the end of the preview.
Call Jane also stars Kate Mara, Chris Messina, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith and Aida Turturro. It is directed by Phyllis Nagy, from a screenplay by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi.
The film is based on a true story about Jane, a group that helped women get abortions in 1970s Chicago before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision made it a constitutional right nationwide. The decision was recently overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court after nearly 50 years.
RoadsideFlix/YouTube Call Jane (2022)
Jane was run by seven women, including Diane Stevens, Eileen Smith and Martha Scott, who recently spoke to PEOPLE surrounding the release of the HBO documentary The Janes, shortly before Roe v. Wade was overturned. They wonder now if groups like Jane will come back.
"What scares me about the new abortion laws is that they criminalize everything: the woman, the practitioner and the helper, and that will discourage people from seeking things that would be helpful for them," said Scott. "People who don't have resources to go to another state will of course be back in the situation of the desperation of needing an abortion and really not knowing what to do."
"I feel furious and frustrated," added Smith. "I guess I had hoped that common sense and decency would win out. I am angry that the freedom to decide when and if to have children is being denied. Most people in our country care about this and have felt that these decisions are personal and private. To have the Supreme Court not protect this part of health care is disrespectful and appalling."
Call Jane is in theaters Oct. 28.
