Merle Hoffman
Encyclopedia
Merle Hoffman is a women's health pioneer, activist, political organizer, publisher and author.
Hoffman is the founder, president and CEO of CHOICES Women's Medical Center, one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive (see services listed at www.choicesmedical.com) women's medical facilities, and the publisher and editor-in-chief of On The Issues Magazine. Established in 1971 (two years before Roe v. Wade
) with a vision of patient empowerment through knowledge and education—"Patient Power"—Choices Women's Medical Center today serves more than 50,000 patients a year. Hoffman also founded Choices Mental Health Center, which addressed a full range of psychological issues including rape, incest, and domestic violence as well as general psychiatric and psychological services. In an historic joint venture in 1994 she worked with Russian hospitals and doctors to develop CHOICES East, the first feminist outpatient medical center in Russia. Hoffman also organized Russian feminists to deliver an open letter to Boris Yeltsin on the state of women's health care. (Moscow Times Oct. 13, 1992)
As an activist and organizer, Hoffman was founder of the New York Pro-Choice Coalition and organized the first pro-choice civil disobedience action at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. .
, then called Music and Arts, where she studied piano. She was also a student at the Chatham Square Music School studying with Stefan Wolpe
and Jan Gorbaty. After graduating in 1964, she lived and studied music in Paris and later attended ew York University and Queens College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1972. She did her graduate studies in Social Psychology in the City University of New York Graduate Center's doctoral program.
In 1975, Hoffman founded STOP (Second Treatment Option Program). It was the first of its kind in the treatment and diagnosis of breast cancer in an out-patient facility, allowing women time to decide their treatment options. Previously, when a woman was under anesthesia and cancer was found during a biopsy, the breast was removed immediately, without discussion. STOP gave the patient the power to think about her next step and discuss her options with a trained counselor. Hoffman also worked closely with SHARE cancer support
to educate women on their surgical and alternative options to breast cancer.
Hoffman broadened the services of the medical center by creating Choices Mental Health Center, which addressed a full range of psychological issues including rape, incest, and domestic violence as well as general psychiatric and psychological services until September, 2005. In the wake of the 9/11/2001 tragedy, the Mental Health Center became a Project Liberty provider of mental health services to those traumatized or affected by the attacks, offering free counseling at satellite centers in neighborhoods throughout New York.
In 1994, Hoffman realized there was a need for a CHOICES-type establishment in Russia when a Russian patient at CHOICES presented at CHOICES for her 36th abortion. Hoffman attempted to open the CHOICES East Center, in Russia. The prime directive was to offer the women of Russia safe and effective birth control and safe, accessible abortions.
Hoffman traveled to Moscow at the invitation of the Moscow Clinical Center Marine Hospital with 11 of her staff. She gave a speech at the Moscow Literary Society that was mobbed by invitees attempting to get samples of birth control and CHOICES staff performed abortions under anesthesia at Hospital 53 in Moscow. Hoffman also organized a team of Russian feminists to deliver a letter to Boris Yeltsin on the state of women's health in Russia.(Moscow Times Oct. 13, 1992)
The project, a joint venture between Merle Hoffman, CHOICES, the Moscow Clinical Center Marine Hospital and the Department of Marine Transport of the Ministry of Transport, came to an end because of disagreements about control and governance.
and Congresswoman Bella Abzug
.
In 1976, Hoffman co-founded the National Association of Abortion Facilities (NAAF), now called the National Abortion Federation
(NAF), and served as its first president. In 1985, Hoffman founded the New York Pro-Choice Coalition (NYPCC), the first umbrella organization of pro-choice individuals and organizations committed to ensuring safe, legal abortion in New York. The NYPCC was the first group to organize a national response to the efforts of Operation Rescue
and other pro-life groups to shut down clinics. The NYPCC set the standard for how to defend clinics and published a pamphlet, "The Battle to Defend Abortion Clinics: Organizing Against 'Operation Rescue,' " that included detailed information on grassroots pro-choice organizing.
When Operation Rescue announced it would shut down abortion services in New York City from April 30 to May 7, 1988, the NYPCC announced that week would be Reproductive Freedom Week. To kick things off, on April 29, 1988, the NYPCC organized a march for women's rights and reproductive freedom. About 1,300 activists and supporters marched from St. Patrick's Cathedral at Madison Avenue and 50th Street to the New York Right to Life Headquarters at 34th Street and 6th Avenue ("The Battle to Defend Abortion Clinics: Organizing Against Operation Rescue," New York Pro Choice Coalition May 1988).
For the duration of Reproductive Freedom Week, the NYPCC organized clinic watches and phone trees, dispatching people to the clinics and doctor's offices Operation Rescue targeted, in an effort to keep them open.
During the next year, Hoffman and the NYPCC frequently defended abortion clinics in New York, and groups across the country defended clinics in other cities.
In January 1989, more pro-life groups demonstrated outside clinics in New York City and again, Hoffman and the NYPCC counter-demonstrated. Anti-choice protestors were arrested, with the New York Post reporting "176 Abortion Foes Busted at Rally" on January 14, 1989. Judge Robert Ward had already issued a permanent injunction against blocking access to abortion clinics, and Operation Rescue's Michael Barbaro said "We have absolutely no intention of giving any respect to these decrees."
On January 14, 1989 Hoffman and other pro-choice leaders including Bill Tatum
, then-Chairman of the Amsterdam News, Maxine Gold of the New York City Commission on the Status of Women, [Balfour Brickner|Rabbi Balfour Brickner] of the Stephen Weiss Free Synagogue, Kelly Conlin of NOW
, Ellen Carton of NARAL, Dr. Vicki Alexander and City Councilwoman Carol Greitzer gathered for a back alley news conference. They announced plans for a counter-offensive against Operation Rescue and pro-life picketers. The alley symbolized that women had to resort to illegal means in the days before abortion was legal. (New York City Tribune Jan. 11, 1989)
"I know that I am possibly standing in and looking at my future- the future of millions of American women if the continued attacks against legalized abortion and the agenda of Operation Rescue succeed," said Hoffman.
On January 15, 1989 The New York Times reported 685 more abortion opponents were arrested.
In April 1989, Hoffman and the NYPCC led the first pro-choice civil disobedience action at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. They protested Cardinal John J. O'Connor's support of Operation Rescue. Protestors held up a Proclamation in front of the massive bronze doors and sat down on the sidewalk in front of the cathedral. The proclamation read:
On behalf of the women of New York City and their sisters throughout this country and out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light.
We stand here today to affirm the following to Cardinal John J. O'Connor who has blessed, praised and hosted the anti-abortion fanatics of "Operation Rescue":
That you have consistently turned a deaf ear and a cold heart to women by repeatedly ignoring urgent requests to meet with us about the terrorism and violence towards women that "Operation Rescue" represents.
That you have added to the atmosphere of fear, terror and anxiety that women must face when attempting to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion.
That you have encouraged the fanaticism and women hating that feeds the politics of "Operation Rescue."
Now, therefore, we stand here not as beggars at your gate but as people of conscience to affirm that:
In an April 3, 1989 New York Times article reporting on the St. Patrick's Cathedral demonstration, Hoffman is quoted saying Operation Rescue is "violent toward women" and that women's rights are in a "state of emergency."
Hoffman has taken stands against the Hyde Amendment
, which in 1976 banned federal funding of abortion. In 1977, Hoffman helped to convince congress to pass legislation requiring the accurate labeling of over-the-counter birth control. (Birth Control - The Last Market that Needs Misleading Ads, Los Angeles Times, Sunday Aug. 29, 1982)
Organica Magazine, by Susan Hussey, Autumn, 1988
and Yusuf Hawkins
"Feminists have been slow to respond publicly to both these cases because of an increased sensitivity to being labeled racist on the one hand and a history of struggle with black women over participation and leadership within the women' movement itself, on the other. But condemning deadly assault and rape of the Central Park jogger does not cancel out acknowledging the continual racist stereotypes used to describe it, or the use of rape itself by some to further inflame racial tension in the city." -Merle Hoffman
Amsterdam News Editorial, Aug. 25, 1990
Consider the words of Don Treshman, director of Rescue America, who was quoted in The New York Times on July 30 saying that Dr. Britton's killing "may be the start of a new civil war." He continued, "Up to now, the killings have been on one side, with 30 million dead babies and hundreds of dead and maimed mothers. On the other side, there are two dead doctors. Maybe the balance is going to start to shift."
(Women News, October, 1983)
What we have to say is, "Yes, [abortion is] the termination of potential life. We know that, and we accept that responsibility." What we're talking about here is power. The medical establishment, the military establishment, and the criminal justice establishment have always had that ultimate power: It rests in the hands of the patriarchy. But through abortion, women have the power of life and death. Women are uncomfortable with that power, which is the acceptance of responsibility..."
'What is the truth about abortion,' Hoffman asked. 'Who should have the power?'
"Historically, men have decided who lives and dies, she said, arguing that this is why abortion is so strongly opposed.
'You are responsible for your life and the life growing inside you,' Hoffman told the women inside the room. 'You have the right to choose.' "
Article on Merle Hoffman's keynote speech at a three-day symposium celebrating the 15th anniversary of Duke University's Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
in Detroit.
For a few years, it was published twice a year and sent out free to large mailing lists of progressives, feminists and pro-choice activists. The kind of writing and topics that On The Issues Magazine was covering struck a responsive chord in those who were reading it and many suggested Hoffman turn the newsletter into a magazine. (Spring 2008, A Message from the Publisher, ontheissuesmagazine.com)
In response, Hoffman, with the help of committed staff and editorial professionals, created what was to become On the Issues, the Progressive Woman's Quarterly. At the height of its readership it reported a circulation of 20,000, with additional thousands of readers from free subscriptions to women's studies departments, women's centers, students and prisoners.
Some of the writers published in On The Issues Magazine are Andrea Dworkin
, Kate Millett
, Jan Goodwin, Phyllis Chesler
, Erica Jong
, bell hooks
, Shere Hite
, Carolyn Gage
, Elizabeth Holtzman
and Julienne Malveaux.
From 1990 to 1999, On the Issues Magazine was published quarterly. Because the magazine's funding came from Choices Women's Medical Center, it was vulnerable to what the clinic was vulnerable to: the politics and attacks of the anti-choice movement. In 1999 CHOICES (and Hoffman) had to fight on many fronts: bomb and death threats, and eviction from a space that that had been leased for over 20 years. At that point, Hoffman was forced to suspend publication to focus on the clinic's survival and ability to serve women in need, her first priority.
In Spring 2008, On The Issues Magazine was revamped and introduced as a free online magazine, with archives from the print edition. New, themed editions go online quarterly, and the Cafe section features new articles weekly.(2008 Spring, ontheissuesmagazine.com)
Many progressive and feminists news outlets hail On The Issues Magazine for its content:
"On The Issues delivers solid articles that are original and engaging without becoming esoteric. Every issue is carefully balanced to represent a wide range of interests and experiences…" -Elizabeth Larson in UTNE Reader
The magazine is "dense" and "politically diverse." - Jeanne Cooper in The Boston Globe
"On The Issues really is—on the issues, that is. It kind of reminds me of Ms. when it was a lot younger and a lot more feisty, when it really had something to say about topics of concern to women no matter how revolutionary or radical they seemed. – WLW Journal (Women's Library Association)
"I was recently alerted to the newly re-launched On The Issues Magazine. On The Issues was originally published from 1983 to 1999 as a print quarterly feminist magazine started by reproductive rights activist Merle Hoffman. The new incarnation is only available online and based on what's on the site now looks great."
"Good reads in the On The Issues Magazine Cafe, including Diana Whitten's look at Women on Waves, a Dutch organization that provides on-ship abortions in international waters for women from countries where it is illegal. Women on Waves recently won an important victory in the European Court of Human Rights. And don't forget to check out the winter issue, which features stories on topics from ratifying CEDAW to Second Life."
"Most women's magazines have long used romance, love and family- and, inevitably, sex—as mainstays, but some now are pushing the limits of decency. They're becoming more tawdry and displaying women . . . as bodies, without souls or minds. If women accept these images of themselves, they are losing the battle against rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment.
Even pristine Ms. magazine, normally a standard-bearer of sexual equality, has fallen into the Big Orgasm craze, notes Sheila Jeffries in the current On The Issues, a magazine for progressive women. Ms. recently ran such racy articles as "I was a teenage slut" and "Eroticizing eEuality." "An unreflective politics of orgasm seems to be winning out," Jeffreys says. "Unfortunately, freedom is being defined as the achievement of bigger and better orgasms, by any means possible." – "Women More Than Sex Machines," by Barbara Reynolds, USA Today
West German Green Party and Anti Nuclear Activist"
"The Making of A Radical Feminist: a Different Perspective on Andrea Dworkin in an Intimate, Candid Interview"
"Breaking the Barriers: Interview with Kate Millett"
"Thelma and Louise Live"
"I Am Against Fanatics": A Dialogue Between Elie Wiesel and Merle Hoffman on Abortion, Love and the Holocaust"
"Replacing PROZAC with PLATO, a Conversation with Lou Marinoff"
"Sarah Palin and the Apocalypse"
All of Hoffman's editorials can be found at Merle Hoffman.com.
"On Power and Sex: the Cost of Things" Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, Opinion, Nov./Dec., 1985
Hoffman's writing has appeared in numerous publications and journals including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association. Hoffman also published two studies in the 80s that documented how poverty leads many women to choose abortions and another that showed nearly half the women seeking abortion at CHOICES would pursue one illegally if Roe v. Wade were repealed.
One article "Abortionomics" was picked up by UPI in 1982 and reprinted across the country. The study Hoffman conducted argued that the Reagan Administration's economic policies were "having a direct effect on abortions in this country." The study, conducted in 1981, said 1.5 million abortions were performed a year in the United States and that because of economic circumstances women were "sacrificing their desire for children."
Lear's Magazine, "Enterprise" by Eva Pomise, February 1994, pp 23-24
Women's Review of Books, "A Conversation with Abortion Rights Activist Merle Hoffman" by Amy Hoffman (no relation), December 2001
The Herald Sun, Durham, NC, "Pro-Abortion Activist Praises Roe v. Wade" by Hunter Lewis 11/1/03
Also see Hoffman's Archives at Duke University.
and Jean Head.(On the Issues Magazine, Fall 1988)
Hoffman produced, directed and wrote the documentary film "Abortion: A Different Light" in 1982, and in 1986 she produced and hosted the first feminist television show, "MH: On The Issues, a syndicated 30-minute cable TV show. The program's first guest was Congresswoman Bella Abzug
. Other guests included Bill Baird
, Carol Bellamy
, Susie Orbach
, Elizabeth Holtzman
and Betty Freidan
.
1/26/1985 "Women, Love and the Power of Choice," at the First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn
2/10/1985 "Anti-Choice Violence and Media Distortion and the Future of Abortion Rights in the U.S." sponsored by Women's Quarterly Review, Café Lexus, NY, NY
1/23/1986 Hoffman organized and led a rally on the 22nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Speakers included Congresswoman Bella Abzug
and Hoffman.
9/1995 The International Women's Conference in Beijing, China. (On the Issues Magazine, Beijing News, September 1995)
11/1/2003 Hoffman gives Keynote speech at the 15th Anniversary of Duke University's Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, Durham, NC
8/2006 Women's Equality Day Tribute to Betty Friedan, NYC
Also see Hoffman's Archives at Duke University.
Hoffman was honored for her work by the Department of Corrections of New York City, the National Organization for Women (NOW), Women's Health Care Services, Ecovisions, Community Action Network, the National Victim's Center, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Veteran Feminists of America, former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, and others.
A film, “Choices from the Ground Up,” was produced to honor Hoffman.
Hoffman was given the Women of Power & Influence Award by the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1988, the first year they gave the award, and again in 1998. (www.NOWNYC.org, Women of Power and Vision Awards - past awardees)
In 2010, Hoffman won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen's Club of New York in the political commentary category for her article "Selecting the Same Sex" published in On The Issues Magazine.
Hoffman is the founder, president and CEO of CHOICES Women's Medical Center, one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive (see services listed at www.choicesmedical.com) women's medical facilities, and the publisher and editor-in-chief of On The Issues Magazine. Established in 1971 (two years before Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
) with a vision of patient empowerment through knowledge and education—"Patient Power"—Choices Women's Medical Center today serves more than 50,000 patients a year. Hoffman also founded Choices Mental Health Center, which addressed a full range of psychological issues including rape, incest, and domestic violence as well as general psychiatric and psychological services. In an historic joint venture in 1994 she worked with Russian hospitals and doctors to develop CHOICES East, the first feminist outpatient medical center in Russia. Hoffman also organized Russian feminists to deliver an open letter to Boris Yeltsin on the state of women's health care. (Moscow Times Oct. 13, 1992)
As an activist and organizer, Hoffman was founder of the New York Pro-Choice Coalition and organized the first pro-choice civil disobedience action at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. .
Early life
Merle Hoffman was born in Philadelphia. She moved to Kew Gardens, Queens, New York City with her family when she was 12. She attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing ArtsFiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue...
, then called Music and Arts, where she studied piano. She was also a student at the Chatham Square Music School studying with Stefan Wolpe
Stefan Wolpe
Stefan Wolpe was a German-born composer.-Life:Wolpe was born in Berlin. He attended the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory from the age of fourteen, and the Berlin Hochschule für Musik in 1920-1921. He studied composition under Franz Schreker and was also a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni...
and Jan Gorbaty. After graduating in 1964, she lived and studied music in Paris and later attended ew York University and Queens College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1972. She did her graduate studies in Social Psychology in the City University of New York Graduate Center's doctoral program.
Health care centers
In 1971, Hoffman founded CHOICES (Creative Health Organization for Information Counseling and Educational Services) Women's Medical Center, originally called Flushing Women's Medical Center, as an ambulatory abortion provider for Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (HIP). New York State had made abortion legal earlier that year, and CHOICES became one of the first health facilities in the country specializing in abortion services. Under Hoffman's direction, CHOICES has become one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive women's medical facilities, offering full reproductive health, OB-GYN and primary care.In 1975, Hoffman founded STOP (Second Treatment Option Program). It was the first of its kind in the treatment and diagnosis of breast cancer in an out-patient facility, allowing women time to decide their treatment options. Previously, when a woman was under anesthesia and cancer was found during a biopsy, the breast was removed immediately, without discussion. STOP gave the patient the power to think about her next step and discuss her options with a trained counselor. Hoffman also worked closely with SHARE cancer support
SHARE cancer support
SHARE is a "highly regarded New York City peer support" organization of women affected by breast or ovarian cancer. SHARE is a professionally managed volunteer organization...
to educate women on their surgical and alternative options to breast cancer.
Hoffman broadened the services of the medical center by creating Choices Mental Health Center, which addressed a full range of psychological issues including rape, incest, and domestic violence as well as general psychiatric and psychological services until September, 2005. In the wake of the 9/11/2001 tragedy, the Mental Health Center became a Project Liberty provider of mental health services to those traumatized or affected by the attacks, offering free counseling at satellite centers in neighborhoods throughout New York.
In 1994, Hoffman realized there was a need for a CHOICES-type establishment in Russia when a Russian patient at CHOICES presented at CHOICES for her 36th abortion. Hoffman attempted to open the CHOICES East Center, in Russia. The prime directive was to offer the women of Russia safe and effective birth control and safe, accessible abortions.
Hoffman traveled to Moscow at the invitation of the Moscow Clinical Center Marine Hospital with 11 of her staff. She gave a speech at the Moscow Literary Society that was mobbed by invitees attempting to get samples of birth control and CHOICES staff performed abortions under anesthesia at Hospital 53 in Moscow. Hoffman also organized a team of Russian feminists to deliver a letter to Boris Yeltsin on the state of women's health in Russia.(Moscow Times Oct. 13, 1992)
The project, a joint venture between Merle Hoffman, CHOICES, the Moscow Clinical Center Marine Hospital and the Department of Marine Transport of the Ministry of Transport, came to an end because of disagreements about control and governance.
Politics and Political Organizing
On Nov. 23, 1974, Hoffman was the initiator and moderator for the First Women's Health Forum, hosted by HIP at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City. Speakers included Barbara EnrenreichBarbara Ehrenreich
-Early life:Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Oxley and Ben Howes Alexander in Butte, Montana, which she describes as then being "a bustling, brawling, blue collar mining town."...
and Congresswoman Bella Abzug
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
.
In 1976, Hoffman co-founded the National Association of Abortion Facilities (NAAF), now called the National Abortion Federation
National Abortion Federation
The National Abortion Federation is an organization of abortion providers. Though originally a U.S. group, NAF has expanded to include practitioners in Canada and Australia as well as many European countries and Mexico...
(NAF), and served as its first president. In 1985, Hoffman founded the New York Pro-Choice Coalition (NYPCC), the first umbrella organization of pro-choice individuals and organizations committed to ensuring safe, legal abortion in New York. The NYPCC was the first group to organize a national response to the efforts of Operation Rescue
Operation Save America
Operation Save America is an organization based in Dallas, Texas, that opposes human induced abortion and its legality. In 1994, Flip Benham became the director of the organization, then called Operation Rescue National. Benham replaced Keith Tucci, who had replaced Randall Terry...
and other pro-life groups to shut down clinics. The NYPCC set the standard for how to defend clinics and published a pamphlet, "The Battle to Defend Abortion Clinics: Organizing Against 'Operation Rescue,' " that included detailed information on grassroots pro-choice organizing.
When Operation Rescue announced it would shut down abortion services in New York City from April 30 to May 7, 1988, the NYPCC announced that week would be Reproductive Freedom Week. To kick things off, on April 29, 1988, the NYPCC organized a march for women's rights and reproductive freedom. About 1,300 activists and supporters marched from St. Patrick's Cathedral at Madison Avenue and 50th Street to the New York Right to Life Headquarters at 34th Street and 6th Avenue ("The Battle to Defend Abortion Clinics: Organizing Against Operation Rescue," New York Pro Choice Coalition May 1988).
For the duration of Reproductive Freedom Week, the NYPCC organized clinic watches and phone trees, dispatching people to the clinics and doctor's offices Operation Rescue targeted, in an effort to keep them open.
During the next year, Hoffman and the NYPCC frequently defended abortion clinics in New York, and groups across the country defended clinics in other cities.
In January 1989, more pro-life groups demonstrated outside clinics in New York City and again, Hoffman and the NYPCC counter-demonstrated. Anti-choice protestors were arrested, with the New York Post reporting "176 Abortion Foes Busted at Rally" on January 14, 1989. Judge Robert Ward had already issued a permanent injunction against blocking access to abortion clinics, and Operation Rescue's Michael Barbaro said "We have absolutely no intention of giving any respect to these decrees."
On January 14, 1989 Hoffman and other pro-choice leaders including Bill Tatum
Wilbert Tatum
Wilbert "Bill" Tatum was an American newspaper executive who variously served as the editor, publisher, chairman and chief executive officer of the New York Amsterdam News, a weekly newspaper that serves the African American community of New York City.-Early years:Wilbert Arnold Tatum was born in...
, then-Chairman of the Amsterdam News, Maxine Gold of the New York City Commission on the Status of Women, [Balfour Brickner|Rabbi Balfour Brickner] of the Stephen Weiss Free Synagogue, Kelly Conlin of NOW
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
, Ellen Carton of NARAL, Dr. Vicki Alexander and City Councilwoman Carol Greitzer gathered for a back alley news conference. They announced plans for a counter-offensive against Operation Rescue and pro-life picketers. The alley symbolized that women had to resort to illegal means in the days before abortion was legal. (New York City Tribune Jan. 11, 1989)
"I know that I am possibly standing in and looking at my future- the future of millions of American women if the continued attacks against legalized abortion and the agenda of Operation Rescue succeed," said Hoffman.
On January 15, 1989 The New York Times reported 685 more abortion opponents were arrested.
In April 1989, Hoffman and the NYPCC led the first pro-choice civil disobedience action at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. They protested Cardinal John J. O'Connor's support of Operation Rescue. Protestors held up a Proclamation in front of the massive bronze doors and sat down on the sidewalk in front of the cathedral. The proclamation read:
On behalf of the women of New York City and their sisters throughout this country and out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light.
We stand here today to affirm the following to Cardinal John J. O'Connor who has blessed, praised and hosted the anti-abortion fanatics of "Operation Rescue":
That you have consistently turned a deaf ear and a cold heart to women by repeatedly ignoring urgent requests to meet with us about the terrorism and violence towards women that "Operation Rescue" represents.
That you have added to the atmosphere of fear, terror and anxiety that women must face when attempting to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion.
That you have encouraged the fanaticism and women hating that feeds the politics of "Operation Rescue."
Now, therefore, we stand here not as beggars at your gate but as people of conscience to affirm that:
- Women are full moral agents with the right and ability to choose when and whether or not they will be mothers.
- Abortion is a choice made by each individual for profound personal reasons that no man nor state should judge.
- The right to make reproductive choices is women's legacy throughout history and belongs to every woman regardless of age, class, race, religion or sexual preference.
- Abortion is a life-affirming act chosen within the context of women's realities, women's lives, and women's sexuality.
- Abortion is often the most moral choice in a world that frequently denies healthcare, housing, education & economic survival.
In an April 3, 1989 New York Times article reporting on the St. Patrick's Cathedral demonstration, Hoffman is quoted saying Operation Rescue is "violent toward women" and that women's rights are in a "state of emergency."
Hoffman has taken stands against the Hyde Amendment
Hyde Amendment
In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortions. It is not a permanent law, rather it is a "rider" that, in various forms, has been routinely attached to annual appropriations bills since 1976...
, which in 1976 banned federal funding of abortion. In 1977, Hoffman helped to convince congress to pass legislation requiring the accurate labeling of over-the-counter birth control. (Birth Control - The Last Market that Needs Misleading Ads, Los Angeles Times, Sunday Aug. 29, 1982)
On Animal Rights
"I closed the book (Hans Ruesch's The Naked Empress) and said, 'I can never eat meat again.' When I began to read, to ground myself in the knowledge, it became so obvious to me that if you were progressive and a feminist you had to incorporate a radical sense of compassion. You could no longer complain about a woman being treated as 'a piece of meat' and sit down and eat a hamburger. Personally, this decision made me feel better than most things I've done in my life." -Merle HoffmanOrganica Magazine, by Susan Hussey, Autumn, 1988
On Racism and Feminism
The Central Park Jogger caseTrisha Meili
The Central Park Jogger case involved an assault and rape that took place in New York City's Central Park on April 19, 1989. The victim was Trisha Meili. Five juvenile males were tried and convicted for the crime...
and Yusuf Hawkins
"Feminists have been slow to respond publicly to both these cases because of an increased sensitivity to being labeled racist on the one hand and a history of struggle with black women over participation and leadership within the women' movement itself, on the other. But condemning deadly assault and rape of the Central Park jogger does not cancel out acknowledging the continual racist stereotypes used to describe it, or the use of rape itself by some to further inflame racial tension in the city." -Merle Hoffman
Amsterdam News Editorial, Aug. 25, 1990
On violence against abortion providers
"It wasn't until after Britton's murder, the second doctor to die in 19 months, that government officials seriously began to consider and investigate the possibility of an organized national anti-abortion conspiracy to kill providers. Although seemingly realistic and psychologically comforting, it is a serious strategic mistake to view the murders of the two doctors as acts of individual madness. The evidence can be extracted from both the statements of anti-abortionists about what to expect in the way of more killings and the intellectual climate that has been, I believe, deliberately created to undermine support for freedom of choice—even among its strongest proponents.Consider the words of Don Treshman, director of Rescue America, who was quoted in The New York Times on July 30 saying that Dr. Britton's killing "may be the start of a new civil war." He continued, "Up to now, the killings have been on one side, with 30 million dead babies and hundreds of dead and maimed mothers. On the other side, there are two dead doctors. Maybe the balance is going to start to shift."
On Self Defense
In 1993, as a result of the violence against abortion clinics and abortion practitioners, Hoffman bought a shotgun. "If you're looking for violence, it's the anti-choice people who harass and hunt people down." –Merle HoffmanOn AIDS and Men
"For women, sex has always had consequences. Now, for the first time, there is an aftermath for men, too."- Merle Hoffman(Women News, October, 1983)
On Gender Roles
"I'd say I'm a people's libber in a strong sense. I don't believe in women just taking over the male roles in society without questioning the values." –Merle Hoffman (New York Daily News, June 19, 1977)On Aileen Wournos
"Aileen Wuornos is a symptom of what's happening to women in this society- an epidemic of violence, rape, incest and battering…The only thing that makes her so unusual is that she fought back, and more than once." –Merle Hoffman (New York Daily News, Feb. 6, 1994)On Feminism and Abortion
"In the early 1970s, feminists understood that the decision to have an abortion was a decision of power. They understood that women require the ability to choose—morally, legally, and psychologically—in order to be full participants in society. The power of the state has to stop at their skin. Once abortion became legal, and women started to line up in the thousands outside of clinics to have abortions, there was a bifurcation between theory and practice. Most feminists and activists were not involved with the actual doing of the thing....What we have to say is, "Yes, [abortion is] the termination of potential life. We know that, and we accept that responsibility." What we're talking about here is power. The medical establishment, the military establishment, and the criminal justice establishment have always had that ultimate power: It rests in the hands of the patriarchy. But through abortion, women have the power of life and death. Women are uncomfortable with that power, which is the acceptance of responsibility..."
On the Right to Choose
"Hoffman said the way one thinks about abortion mirrors one's deepest views of society.'What is the truth about abortion,' Hoffman asked. 'Who should have the power?'
"Historically, men have decided who lives and dies, she said, arguing that this is why abortion is so strongly opposed.
'You are responsible for your life and the life growing inside you,' Hoffman told the women inside the room. 'You have the right to choose.' "
Article on Merle Hoffman's keynote speech at a three-day symposium celebrating the 15th anniversary of Duke University's Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
On Sarah Palin
"How can you be a politician who claims to support women and the shattering of glass ceilings when your policies would put iron bars around their wombs and the concept of reproductive freedom in the garbage bin of history?"Writing and journalism
In 1982, Hoffman began {http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com On The Issues Magazine] as a newsletter of CHOICES Women's Medical Center in an effort to communicate with other health care providers and pro-choice activists. The first issue in 1983 featured pieces about the early days of the AIDS crisis, the newly-named and diagnosed pre-menstrual syndrome and a report on Hoffman's debate with Jerry FalwellJerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
in Detroit.
For a few years, it was published twice a year and sent out free to large mailing lists of progressives, feminists and pro-choice activists. The kind of writing and topics that On The Issues Magazine was covering struck a responsive chord in those who were reading it and many suggested Hoffman turn the newsletter into a magazine. (Spring 2008, A Message from the Publisher, ontheissuesmagazine.com)
In response, Hoffman, with the help of committed staff and editorial professionals, created what was to become On the Issues, the Progressive Woman's Quarterly. At the height of its readership it reported a circulation of 20,000, with additional thousands of readers from free subscriptions to women's studies departments, women's centers, students and prisoners.
Some of the writers published in On The Issues Magazine are Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women....
, Kate Millett
Kate Millett
Kate Millett is an American lesbian feminist writer and activist. A seminal influence on second-wave feminism, Millet is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics.-Career:...
, Jan Goodwin, Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler is an American writer, psychotherapist, and professor emerita of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island...
, Erica Jong
Erica Jong
Erica Jong is an American author and teacher best known for her fiction and poetry.-Career:A 1963 graduate of Barnard College, and with an M.A...
, bell hooks
Bell hooks
Gloria Jean Watkins , better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, feminist, and social activist....
, Shere Hite
Shere Hite
Shere Hite is an American-born German sex educator and feminist. Her sexological work has focused primarily on female sexuality. Hite builds upon biological studies of sex by Masters and Johnson and by Alfred Kinsey...
, Carolyn Gage
Carolyn Gage
Carolyn Gage is an American playwright, actor and theatrical director. She is also an activist on lesbian and feminist issues. Gage was a Guest Lecturer at Bates College in 1998-99...
, Elizabeth Holtzman
Elizabeth Holtzman
Elizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative , two term District Attorney of Kings County , and New York City Comptroller .Her role on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal drew national...
and Julienne Malveaux.
From 1990 to 1999, On the Issues Magazine was published quarterly. Because the magazine's funding came from Choices Women's Medical Center, it was vulnerable to what the clinic was vulnerable to: the politics and attacks of the anti-choice movement. In 1999 CHOICES (and Hoffman) had to fight on many fronts: bomb and death threats, and eviction from a space that that had been leased for over 20 years. At that point, Hoffman was forced to suspend publication to focus on the clinic's survival and ability to serve women in need, her first priority.
In Spring 2008, On The Issues Magazine was revamped and introduced as a free online magazine, with archives from the print edition. New, themed editions go online quarterly, and the Cafe section features new articles weekly.(2008 Spring, ontheissuesmagazine.com)
Many progressive and feminists news outlets hail On The Issues Magazine for its content:
"On The Issues delivers solid articles that are original and engaging without becoming esoteric. Every issue is carefully balanced to represent a wide range of interests and experiences…" -Elizabeth Larson in UTNE Reader
The magazine is "dense" and "politically diverse." - Jeanne Cooper in The Boston Globe
"On The Issues really is—on the issues, that is. It kind of reminds me of Ms. when it was a lot younger and a lot more feisty, when it really had something to say about topics of concern to women no matter how revolutionary or radical they seemed. – WLW Journal (Women's Library Association)
"I was recently alerted to the newly re-launched On The Issues Magazine. On The Issues was originally published from 1983 to 1999 as a print quarterly feminist magazine started by reproductive rights activist Merle Hoffman. The new incarnation is only available online and based on what's on the site now looks great."
"Good reads in the On The Issues Magazine Cafe, including Diana Whitten's look at Women on Waves, a Dutch organization that provides on-ship abortions in international waters for women from countries where it is illegal. Women on Waves recently won an important victory in the European Court of Human Rights. And don't forget to check out the winter issue, which features stories on topics from ratifying CEDAW to Second Life."
"Most women's magazines have long used romance, love and family- and, inevitably, sex—as mainstays, but some now are pushing the limits of decency. They're becoming more tawdry and displaying women . . . as bodies, without souls or minds. If women accept these images of themselves, they are losing the battle against rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment.
Even pristine Ms. magazine, normally a standard-bearer of sexual equality, has fallen into the Big Orgasm craze, notes Sheila Jeffries in the current On The Issues, a magazine for progressive women. Ms. recently ran such racy articles as "I was a teenage slut" and "Eroticizing eEuality." "An unreflective politics of orgasm seems to be winning out," Jeffreys says. "Unfortunately, freedom is being defined as the achievement of bigger and better orgasms, by any means possible." – "Women More Than Sex Machines," by Barbara Reynolds, USA Today
Editorials, articles and interviews of note
"The Greening of the World: An Exclusive Interview with Petra Kelly, Founder of theWest German Green Party and Anti Nuclear Activist"
"The Making of A Radical Feminist: a Different Perspective on Andrea Dworkin in an Intimate, Candid Interview"
"Breaking the Barriers: Interview with Kate Millett"
"Thelma and Louise Live"
"I Am Against Fanatics": A Dialogue Between Elie Wiesel and Merle Hoffman on Abortion, Love and the Holocaust"
"Replacing PROZAC with PLATO, a Conversation with Lou Marinoff"
"Sarah Palin and the Apocalypse"
All of Hoffman's editorials can be found at Merle Hoffman.com.
"On Power and Sex: the Cost of Things" Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, Opinion, Nov./Dec., 1985
Hoffman's writing has appeared in numerous publications and journals including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association. Hoffman also published two studies in the 80s that documented how poverty leads many women to choose abortions and another that showed nearly half the women seeking abortion at CHOICES would pursue one illegally if Roe v. Wade were repealed.
One article "Abortionomics" was picked up by UPI in 1982 and reprinted across the country. The study Hoffman conducted argued that the Reagan Administration's economic policies were "having a direct effect on abortions in this country." The study, conducted in 1981, said 1.5 million abortions were performed a year in the United States and that because of economic circumstances women were "sacrificing their desire for children."
Articles of note about Hoffman, CHOICES or On The Issues Magazine
The New York Times, "About New York: Love In a Very Small Place" by Francis X. Clines 12/19/78Lear's Magazine, "Enterprise" by Eva Pomise, February 1994, pp 23-24
Women's Review of Books, "A Conversation with Abortion Rights Activist Merle Hoffman" by Amy Hoffman (no relation), December 2001
The Herald Sun, Durham, NC, "Pro-Abortion Activist Praises Roe v. Wade" by Hunter Lewis 11/1/03
Also see Hoffman's Archives at Duke University.
Speeches, Debates and Television Programs
Hoffman speaks regularly about women's rights and pro-choice issues and has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs. Hoffman has debated all the main leaders of the pro-life movement including Jerry FalwellJerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
and Jean Head.(On the Issues Magazine, Fall 1988)
Hoffman produced, directed and wrote the documentary film "Abortion: A Different Light" in 1982, and in 1986 she produced and hosted the first feminist television show, "MH: On The Issues, a syndicated 30-minute cable TV show. The program's first guest was Congresswoman Bella Abzug
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
. Other guests included Bill Baird
Bill Baird
William F. "Bill" Baird is the founder of the Pro Choice League. Baird established the nation's first abortion referral center in 1964, and later the first birth control and abortion center on a college campus. He was sent to jail for teaching birth control and distributing abortion literature in...
, Carol Bellamy
Carol Bellamy
Carol Bellamy has been Director of the Peace Corps, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , and President and CEO of World Learning. In April, 2009, Bellamy was appointed as Chair of the International Baccalaureate Board of Governors...
, Susie Orbach
Susie Orbach
Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer, and social critic from London, UK.-Background:Orbach was born in London, in 1946, and was brought up in Chalk Farm, north London, the child of Jewish parents, British MP Maurice Orbach and an American mother...
, Elizabeth Holtzman
Elizabeth Holtzman
Elizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative , two term District Attorney of Kings County , and New York City Comptroller .Her role on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal drew national...
and Betty Freidan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
.
1/26/1985 "Women, Love and the Power of Choice," at the First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn
2/10/1985 "Anti-Choice Violence and Media Distortion and the Future of Abortion Rights in the U.S." sponsored by Women's Quarterly Review, Café Lexus, NY, NY
1/23/1986 Hoffman organized and led a rally on the 22nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Speakers included Congresswoman Bella Abzug
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
and Hoffman.
9/1995 The International Women's Conference in Beijing, China. (On the Issues Magazine, Beijing News, September 1995)
11/1/2003 Hoffman gives Keynote speech at the 15th Anniversary of Duke University's Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, Durham, NC
8/2006 Women's Equality Day Tribute to Betty Friedan, NYC
Also see Hoffman's Archives at Duke University.
Honors & Awards
In 2002, Hoffman was appointed to the National Advisory Board of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association.Hoffman was honored for her work by the Department of Corrections of New York City, the National Organization for Women (NOW), Women's Health Care Services, Ecovisions, Community Action Network, the National Victim's Center, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Veteran Feminists of America, former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, and others.
A film, “Choices from the Ground Up,” was produced to honor Hoffman.
Hoffman was given the Women of Power & Influence Award by the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1988, the first year they gave the award, and again in 1998. (www.NOWNYC.org, Women of Power and Vision Awards - past awardees)
In 2010, Hoffman won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen's Club of New York in the political commentary category for her article "Selecting the Same Sex" published in On The Issues Magazine.