Birth control pioneer returns to BU decades after arrest on campus

The scream of a young mother of nine children in a Harlem hospital one night is still vivid in pro-choice activist Bill Baird’s mind.

The memory of the mother, who bled to death after she attempted to abort another pregnancy, was part of what lead Baird to dedicate his life to advocating for the right to birth control and abortion.

Baird, 79, addressed about 30 people at Boston University on Tuesday evening for the first time since his speech on campus in April of 1967, where he was arrested for giving a contraceptive foam and a condom to a 19-year-old unmarried student, who was then legally considered a minor.

Baird came to BU on April 6, 1967 and spoke to about 2,500 people in an effort to fight for birth control rights, he said.

“I defend with my life your right to choose what’s right for you,” Baird said on why he fought for birth control.

Baird said that he knew the risk of getting arrested at his speech, but he chose to come to Boston in hopes of capturing the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Maybe I will be able to help millions of women across the United States,” he said of his thought process before the 1967 speech.

Since then, Baird has become one of the most controversial figures in the debate over the right to an abortion, he said. He listed numerous occasions in which public figures have called him the devil for his work, adding that this opposition is an insult to the intelligence of women everywhere.

Baird’s arrest resulted in a 10-year prison sentence, which he fought in the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case Eisenstadt v. Baird, he said. He won the case, resulting in the legalization of birth control throughout the country.

“I know what I’ve done for this nation,” Baird said. “Why don’t others?”

College of Arts and Sciences junior Marshall Schurtz, the co-president of Humanists of BU, invited Baird to speak on campus. Schurtz said he met Baird at an American Humanist Association conference last April.

“I randomly saw his talk. It was moving and incredible,” Schurtz said. “I think he’s worthy of a plaque at BU because 600 students invited him [in 1967].”

Several audience members Tuesday night said they agreed with Baird’s reasoning.

“It cemented my views even more,” said Magdalena Lopez, a senior in CAS.

CAS freshman Emma Kalff said she was surprised that a single man had such a large effect.

“It’s exceptional that he fights so hard for it,” Kalff said.

Throughout his presentation, Baird asked questions to encourage the audience to understand his argument. He asked if a pregnant woman should count for two people and if a conceived embryo should be considered alive. He also described Republican and Catholic stances on birth control and abortion as primitive.

Baird said he does not apologize for his opinions and has gained many enemies over the last four decades.

“I’ve been shot at, fire bombed and arrested eight times,” Baird said. “For two years, my children have not spoken with me.”

Despite others’ views of him, Baird said he continues to advocate for the right to choose to have an abortion.
“No one has the guts to say what I have for you,” Baird said. “I need you to help me as a part of the human family.”

Some attendees said Baird’s speech encouraged them to fight for their beliefs.

“At the very least I will go down to Planned Parenthood and protest those against the organization,” Schurtz said. “I will try to get as many people, especially at BU, to know about him.”