Merle Hoffman

A leader in the struggle for women’s rights

Media

Find more of Merle Hoffman on YouTube and C-SPAN.

Throughout her journey, Merle has given many keynote speeches, interviews, and guest appearances. Watch a few of her highlights below and look back at some of her significant moments.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/blEhtgqm7eg
Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights Speak Out (2022)
https://player.vimeo.com/video/149142046
The Abortion Rights Emergency — STOP the War on Women! (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/eOdYdm-Q5X8
A Friend In Deed, my Sister-Warrior, Merle Hoffman (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ynxpj9reLL8
Abortion Rights Emergency Speak Out, NYC (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/JDBb6NXPbs0
Merle Hoffman, Abortion Rights Freedom Rider on (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8dtVoJoHmyI
Healer: Design and Reproductive Health (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2CFxR3pWe-o
Press Club Rewind (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/skjgQbfNr84
CapitalNewYork.com (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/7hre5gmM1D8
Merle Hoffman, Feminist Warrior (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2esgNHEcb4g
Choices Women's Medical Center (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pyfNxNVhkDs
Intimate Wars: Abortionmics and Russia (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/4yV70jbOqUw
Intimate Wars: Business, Money & Power (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ARbwQYjSxfs
Intimate Wars: The Nature of Choice (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/JD3vbPRV3XM
Intimate Wars: 40 Years of Choices (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/yJgXgSXvtr0
Intimate Wars by Merle Hoffman (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NQdbQCC2nJ4
Tribute to Betty Friedan (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/bUug-Qk1N8U
25 Years of Choices (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfYAlizf1Z4
Abortion: A Different Light (1982)

Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights Speak Out (2022)

“One of the most dangerous enemies to women’s freedom and women’s rights has outposts in our heads– guilt, shame, I’m not a ‘good girl’…”

The Abortion Rights Emergency — STOP the War on Women! (2015)

Merle Hoffman speaks at Stop the War on Women panel, several weeks after the shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that killed 3 and injured 9 people.

A Friend In Deed, my Sister-Warrior, Merle Hoffman (2015)

Merle Hoffman speaks in honor of Phyllis Chesler.

Abortion Rights Emergency Speak Out, NYC (2014)

Speakers included poet Marge Piercy, Minister Donna Schaper, abortion providers Dr. Willie Parker and Merle Hoffman who said: “The power of the state must stop at our skins.”

Merle Hoffman, Abortion Rights Freedom Rider on (2014)

Merle urges people to act: “Do whatever you can to become a freedom rider for women’s lives.”

Healer: Design and Reproductive Health (2013)

Merle Hoffman speaks with Women on Waves founder Rebecca Gomperts.

Press Club Rewind (2012)

Merle Hoffman brings the reality of abortion and women’s lives to the National Press Club, Washington D.C.

CapitalNewYork.com (2012)

Nearing Roe’s 40 th anniversary, Merle Hoffman says: “women in this city have to run a vicious gauntlet of demonstrators, I call them bullies and the American Taliban.”

Merle Hoffman, Feminist Warrior (2012)

Merle Hoffman, Feminist Warrior Healer, speaks about her early history as a budding concert pianist in her teens to a pioneer in women’s health.

Choices Women's Medical Center (2012)

On the 40th Anniversary of Choices, Merle recalls holding the hand of her first patient when abortion was still illegal in most of the country: “It’s been an extraordinary journey.”

Intimate Wars: Abortionmics and Russia (2011)

Abortionomics study: Merle Hoffman releases a study that revealed how economics is a major factor in women’s need for abortion.

Intimate Wars: Business, Money & Power (2011)

Merle Hoffman reflects on Business, Money and Power – “Power can be used for the good of the people.”

Intimate Wars: The Nature of Choice (2011)

Merle Hoffman on Choice – “Having an abortion is probably one of the most, if not THE most, powerful decision a woman will make in her lifetime.”

Intimate Wars: 40 Years of Choices (2011)

Merle Hoffman takes us through the creation of Choices as a State-of-the-Art Medical Center, an oasis for women and girls, in Jamaica, Queens.

Intimate Wars by Merle Hoffman (2011)

Merle Hoffman holds up huge coathanger in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral at first ever pro-choice civil disobedience action. Nine were arrested. One news report called it “an important strategic change in the movement.” It was the first time pro-choice advocates had been arrested supporting abortion rights.

Tribute to Betty Friedan (2006)

Merle Hoffman speaks at Tribute to Betty Friedan: Feminists Moving Forward, Our Past is Our Future, speaking to how “Feminism is the theory, abortion is the practice.”

25 Years of Choices (1996)

A high school student interviews Merle Hoffman on sex education in schools, personal relationships and feminism.

Abortion: A Different Light (1982)

Abortion: A Different Light, produced by Merle Hoffman in 1982 and featuring prominent figures in the battle for safe, legal reproductive rights, including Sarah Weddington, attorney who represented “Jane Roe” before the Supreme Court in 1973; Bill Baird, pioneer in the battle for legal birth control; and others.

Print Media

Merle has been interviewed and featured in numerous newspapers, magazines, and other publications over the years. Read a few of her favorites, along with some of her personal commentary and news updates.

Merle Hoffman 108 minutes

108 Minutes With Merle Hoffman

Merle Hoffman, ­reproductive-rights activist, describes herself as the woman who brought abortion from the back alley to the boardroom.

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