He’s been called “the father of the abortion movement” by the Los Angeles Times and a “promoter of filth” by Catholic and evangelical conservatives. Ms. spoke with Bill Baird about his career and the ongoing struggle for reproductive freedom:
I am outraged. At the same time, many of our allies did not begin to organize against our opponents as early as they should have. I remember Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Alan Guttmacher telling thethat the Roe decision meant we could put our feet up on our desks because the fight was over.
As the case wound through various lower-to-higher courts, I eventually received a call from Senator Ernest Gruening, who represented Alaska from 1959 until 1969. He was a powerful figure at the time and he wanted me to fire Balliro and instead let Joseph Tydings, a Maryland Senator, argue the case at the Supreme Court. I felt terrible about firing Balliro but my friendship and respect for him were less important than the issue, so I let Tydings become my attorney.
Finally, I went to every Right to Life convention from the 1970s until 2014. Why weren’t other pro-choice groups and individuals there? It is important to know what the antis are saying and planning. Right to Life bills itself as moderate, but it’s not. They’ve pushed the argument that a fertilized egg is a person. They call abortion genocide. They’ve always posed a threat to sexual agency. But most reproductive health activists refused to see or acknowledge this. It makes no sense.