Merle Hoffman

Merle Hoffman
Merle Hoffman, photo by Joan Roth.
Born	(1946-03-06) March 6, 1946 (age 78)
Known for	Publishing On the Issues magazine

Merle Hoffman (born March 6, 1946) is an American journalist and activist.

Shortly after New York State legalized abortion in 1970, three years before the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion nationally, Hoffman helped establish^[1] one of the country's first ambulatory abortion centers, Flushing Women's Medical Center in 1971. It was the forerunner of Choices Women's Medical Center^[2] which Hoffman founded and serves as president and CEO. Choices is a full-service healthcare provider, offering gynecological services, pre-natal care, family care, transgender health care, telemedicine, mental health and other services.

Hoffman co-founded the National Abortion Federation in 1976,^[3] the first professional organization of abortion providers in the U.S., and was its first president. She also founded the New York Pro-Choice Coalition in 1985. Hoffman is the publisher of On the Issues magazine,^[4] which began as a print publication in 1983 and then became an online publication in 2008. She was awarded the Front Page Award for Political Commentary in 2010 from the Newswoman's Club of New York.^[5]