New documentary looks at the life of Bill Baird

Reproductive rights icon was seminal figure in abortion rights movement.

(Bill Baird and Jada Portillo, an Arkansas student that reenacted him at history competitions)

A new documentary looks at the life of Bill Baird, a seminal yet controversial figure in abortion rights history. 

Yours in Freedom, Bill Baird follows the story of an older man who played a pivotal role in legalizing birth control and abortion in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout the remainder of his life, the polarizing activist advocated for reproductive rights while both angering and endearing himself from other key leaders and organizations in the movement. 

Rebecca Cammisa, the documentarian behind the film, said she found conflicting views on Baird, but she felt that he was generally an inspiring and productive leader for women’s rights. 

“The point was, here's a man putting his ass on the line for us,” she said. “And not only should we be doing that for ourselves, but when someone’s doing that to help us, we don't support them when they are risking everything.

“And so there's some research that I came across that was very supportive of him within the movement. And then, of course, (there was some) research that certainly some factions or people who weren't for him.” 

Cammisa’s research took her to Smith College, which houses a repository of documents, videos, and artifacts related to Baird’s career. She spent time with a high school student who was engaged in historical reenactments of Baird at competitions, which she won. 

Cammisa initially sought a young person to show Baird’s continuing impact. The documentary producer told her about the young woman, Jada Portillo. 

“What attracted her to him that she just seeks him out and starts performing as him in Arkansas?” Cammisa said. “I thought, ‘Okay, here's the link to what's happening now to the young generation.’” 

The film logically went into Baird’s arrests in the 1960s for disseminating birth control information to young women on college campuses. He also had a mobile truck that he drove through poor neighborhoods to do the same thing. He was arrested several times and served time in jail. In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the Supreme Court ruled that the Massachusetts law was unconstitutional and that unmarried individuals had a right to birth control.

Baird also successfully challenged parental notification laws in Bellotti v. Baird, where the Supreme Court ruled minors didn’t need to get it to have an abortion. The Supreme Court later amended that to allow states to require judges to approve it instead of parents if the minor didn’t want to go to their mother or father for permission.

Baird’s feud with Betty Friedan was also detailed in the movie. Friedan had a lot of those with other leaders, including Gloria Steinem. There are a lot of ambitions and competing visions for feminism and who should be permitted to shape it. 

“All of these people had an ego,” Cammisa said. “They all have their own agendas. And they all fought with each other within a movement.” 

Cammisa said Baird, Friedan, and Steinem moved society forward despite that. 

“I don't idolize anyone, but I have a deep respect that they lived in a very hard time. My generation (benefited from) these people's hard work.” 

Another illuminating interview was with Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, who was an antiabortion firebrand who debated Baird constantly on television. Cammisa spoke to him because she wanted his insights into what it was like to deal with Baird. 

“I didn't want to have interviews with pundits and talking heads about issues,” Cammisa said. “I wanted to interview the people who knew Bill, who either worked with Bill or worked against him.” 

Baird was unique in attending antiabortion events to gather information and learn more about the movement's direction. Predictably, he drew a lot of ire and debate when he did. It’s an example more people should follow going forward. 

“To understand your enemy and where your enemy is going…to fight against what you think is injustice, you better listen to them,” Cammisa said. “You better hear what they have to say,” 

The film was shown at DOC NYC, which was held in November. They are currently looking for a distributor for the film.