Word: bairds
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...held up a package of contraceptive foam she had bought in a drug store down the street. She pointed out that drug stores and department stores throughout the state sell contraceptive items to anyone, a violation of the law which the state ignores. At the same time Bill Baird is sentenced to prison for giving contraceptive foam to an unmarried woman...
...Baird was present at the hearing and testified briefly for the bill. The committee seemed sympathetic to him, but the reason became evident as opponents of the bill began to testify. They claimed that the legalization of contraceptive care would destroy the morals of the citizens of Massachusetts. Two state representatives, a housewife, a businessman and a Catholic priest presented this viewpoint. The committee seemed particularly interested in whether the priest agreed that enforcement of the laws is discriminatory. He said yes, that the laws should be strictly enforced, that the state probably should crack down on stores which continue...
During the three hours of testimony for and against the bill, speakers-including William R. Baird-argued that present laws prohibiting the distribution of birth-control devices and information to unmarried people are selectively enforced and discriminatory against the poor...
Proponents of the bill also argued that the present laws are selectively enforced. "Drug stores and department stores violate these laws every day without punishment, while individuals such as Bill Baird must serve prison terms," said Debby Wollmer, a member of Worcester Women's Liberation...
...Baird, recently sentenced to three months in jail for giving a package of contraceptive foam to a 22-year-old unmarried woman, said that the legislature was fooling itself if it thought it was protecting the morality of the citizens of Massachusetts by upholding the present...