Back in the 1960s – before Gloria Allred became one of America’s most prominent women’s rights attorneys – she says she was raped at gunpoint. She became pregnant and had a back-alley abortion that nearly killed her.

“It did teach me a lesson,” Allred tells Art of Power host Aarti Shahani. “And the lesson is that abortion should be safe, legal, affordable and available.”

In conversation with Shahani, Allred explains how that traumatic life event changed her worldview and preceded her decades-long career in civil rights law (10:20). She explains why she uses a cheeky sense of humor to get what she needs (4:30) and how she’s represented some of the most famed names in women’s rights, including “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade and O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson (14:35). Plus, Allred defends a long-standing practice she’s been criticized for: negotiating non-disclosure agreements (26:20).