Contraception Pioneer Bill Baird to speak at Boston University, Tuesday Nov. 8th

[Ian David]

...It was in 1967 when the social crusader Bill Baird was invited by a petition of over 600 BU students to come to Boston and fight the current law, which made distribution, possession and education of birth control (including condoms, the pill, contraceptive foam) a felony and a five year prison sentence. It may seem hard to believe now that something the school gives out openly, used to merit a jail sentence. Bill Baird, risking up 5 years in prison, came to BU to fight the law.

Thus, in April, 1967 in front of an overflow crowd of 2,500 students, the largest ever turnout in the history of the school, Bill Baird gave a condom and contraceptive foam to an unmarried woman and was sentenced to 3 months in the horrible Charles Street Jail. At the same time, the ACLU, who had previously pledged to support his fight, abandoned him to fight the case alone. Most astonishing, the president of Planned Parenthood called him “an embarrassment,” for in those days Planned Parenthood was staunchly anti-abortion.

In 1972, the Supreme Court finally heard his case and ruled on the side of Baird in Baird v. Eisenstadt, giving unmarried persons the right to use birth control. Justice Brennan issued a statement as part of the case which established the right to privacy, which was subsequently cited in 6 other Supreme Court cases- including Roe v. Wade .

Clearly the work this man did should not be forgotten, least of all by BU students, but inexplicably near no one knows about him and his work. This Tuesday, November 8th, at 7pm in CAS211, Bill Baird will be returning to BU to speak for the first time since he was arrested over 40 years ago. I urge everyone to come out and hear him talk about his incredible life, and what it means to every single person.



More:
http://bucultureshock.com/?p=14284

[No Elephants]

1. FWIW, if anything, a woman who claims to have slept with Baird back in the day told me he was

nuts, but would not elaborate. Said it was too long a story.

She herself was no prize mentally/emotionally, IMO, so I would not put a lot of credence in what she said about him.

http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com/2010/04/reproductive-rights-crusader-bill-baird.html

And, sane or not, he did a heck of lot for women's reproductive rights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Baird_%28activist%29

She, on the other hand, votes--if the weather is not too bad.