Rochester NOW to Host Roe v Wade Anniversary Event

ALBANY, NY (01/15/2009)(readMedia)-- William R. Baird, a birth control crusader and founder of the Pro Choice League, will be the featured speaker at Rochester NOW's Roe v. Wade 36^th Anniversary program.

The event will be held January 22, 7:00 pm at the First Unitarian Church, 220 S. Winton Rd. The event is free and open to the public.

Baird is best known for his victory in Eisenstadt v. Baird, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that won for single people the right to use birth control. It was the landmark case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. This decision became an umbrella privacy case that impacted many other decisions including the 2003 gay rights U.S. Supreme Court victory, Lawrence v. Texas.

Baird also won two other Supreme Court cases - Baird v. Bellotti I (1976) and Baird v. Bellotti II (1979) which enabled minors to obtain abortions without parental veto.

In 1967 Baird was arrested and jailed for publicly exhibiting birth control and abortion devices in his "Plan Van" - a mobile clinic that he used to teach reproductive health care. He was arrested and jailed eight times in five states for lecturing about abortion and birth control.

"It is an honor to have one of the heroes of the birth control and abortion rights movements speak at our annual Roe v. Wade event," stated Rochester NOW president Alberta S. Roesser. "Baird has worked tirelessly for the right for women to control their own bodies. He has literally put his life on the line for us."

The event is co-sponsored by the Reproductive Choices Task Force of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester.