This conference marked the first instance of physicians and professionals advocating for the reform of abortion laws, contributing significantly to the creation of a movement for the reform of abortion laws in the U.S.[1] In 1960, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first oral contraceptive, Calderone lobbied the American Medical Association (AMA) to endorse contraception as standard medical practice.

[4] While in Voulangis, the family frequently received visits from various artists and colleagues of Edward Steichen, including Constantin Brâncuși, Auguste Rodin, Isadora Duncan, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.

Biographer Jeffrey Moran suggests that Mary's upbringing in a bohemian environment, with her well-known father, her uncle, the poet Carl Sandburg, and Quaker background played a role in shaping her liberal perspective on sex and her passionate nature.

After an in-depth series of aptitude tests at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation in New York, at age 30, she decided to return to education and pursue a career in medicine.

Before her involvement, the organization and its founder, Margaret Sanger, had avoided addressing the subject of abortion, focusing instead on promoting birth control as a means to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

[17] Furthermore, Calderone worked as a liaison between Planned Parenthood and the public health establishment to advocate for the mainstream integration of birth control into American medicine.

In 1959, the APHA issued a public statement endorsing family planning as part of routine medical care, emphasizing the importance of individual choice.

Her most significant success came in 1964 when she persuaded the more conservative AMA to overturn its long-standing policy against providing birth control information to patients and to endorse contraception as part of standard medical practice.

[2][18] During her tenure at Planned Parenthood, Calderone authored various articles for both popular and professional publications, as well as books such as Release from Sexual Tensions (1960) and Manual of Contraceptive Practice (1964), which was a pioneering medical text.

[11] Calderone's office at Planned Parenthood received a steady stream of letters from individuals seeking information not just about the physical aspects of sex but broader topics related to human sexuality.

[20] Calderone soon became a household name and "a magnet for publicity [as] articles in Seventeen, Look, McCall’s, Life Magazine, Parade, Playboy, and other popular magazines profiled her life and analyzed her arguments, [while] her appearances on TV shows such as the Dick Cavett Show and Sixty Minutes reached millions of viewers.”[21] While Calderone gained significant recognition for her positive approach to sex education, she also faced criticism.

Her assertion that sex education should start in kindergarten, with age-appropriate lessons on topics like basic anatomy and consent, provoked opposition from right-wing politicians and religious conservative groups like Mothers Organized for Moral Stability (MOMS) and the John Birch Society, which spent an estimated $40 million on a smear campaign to discredit her.

[20] In 1968, the Christian Crusade's Billy James Hargis and Gordon V. Drake targeted SIECUS and Calderone in the infamous Is the School House the Proper Place to Teach Raw Sex?

pamphlet, as well as other similar fearmongering publications, making unfounded claims that the organization aimed to undermine Christian morality, promote promiscuity, and corrupt children.

[25] From 1968 to 1971, Congressman John Rarick of Louisiana read a series of denunciations of sex education, featuring Mary Calderone and SIECUS, into the Congressional Record.