MESSAGE FROM MERLE HOFFMAN
Founder/President Choices Women’s Medical Center
Merle Hoffman speaking on January 22nd 1989 in Bryant Park in the midst of a blizzard.
Today is January 22nd and this Newsletter should have been celebrating the 52nd Anniversary of Roe V Wade.
I remember one January in particular in New York City’s Bryant Park. It was 1989 we were in the midst of a blinding snow and howling winds of what the papers termed “the worst blizzard of the decade,” I was part of a band of dedicated pro-choice activists who were passionately celebrating the anniversary of Roe v. Wade — and just as passionately attacking those who opposed it. Despite, or perhaps because of, the freezing temperatures, my blood was up. I knew the battle was joined, the troops were marshaled, and I was feeling nothing but transcendent.
Years ago on another anniversary, I debated Nellie Gray, the organizer of the annual anti-abortion march on Washington. She was small, sinewy and angry.
She told me that we were a modern version of the Lincoln-Douglass debates. I smiled in recognition until I realized that she was positioning me as Douglass. “We’ll stop our attacks when you put down your knives and stop the killing,” she told me. “And your vision of women’s roles would be to butcher them with illegal abortions or turn them into baby-making slaves,” I replied.
Past anniversaries were like that — collective, powerful, meaningful, engaged.
CHOICES has now entered its 54th year since our founding in 1971. Two years later, the Supreme Court made abortion legal nationwide in the Roe v. Wade decision, and we joined the cheering when women were legally freed from forced motherhood. And as many new attacks were launched by anti-abortion forces, including murdering doctors and blocking clinic doors, we stood proudly in the forefront of resistance.
With the Supreme Court loaded with anti-choice reactionaries, the Dobbs ruling hit hard – and we were among the far too few who saw the horrors ahead and knew resistance was the only way to respond. I was glad to co-found Rise up for Abortion Rights, the only organization that built active resistance before and after Dobbs as I wrote in my book, Choices – A Post-Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto.
Millions of women are now living in States where legal abortion is history. Every woman in this country is a Second Class Citizen. When one woman is not free…none of us are free.
Without providers, there is no Choice.
Every single provider, every single clinic that stays open, is part of the Resistance, because our Existence is Resistance.
Not only does CHOICES commit to continue to exist and resist, but we are making many efforts to grow, to ensure the entire feminist women’s health history of abortion and reproductive care is not lost and to role-model courage and character in this continuing struggle.
There is a quote from Victor Frankle that speaks to this moment…
“What is to give light must endure burning.”
All of us can be burned when we move into activism…from coming out of the closet and sharing our own Abortion stories to getting into the streets and participating in civil disobedience.
But the light for freedom that is in each of us must be shared to gain power.
– Merle Hoffman
Founder/President, Choices Women’s Medical Center
FEATURED IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Our physician training program in conjunction with Montefiore Hospital and other medical facilities and schools is becoming known as a place to learn and practice abortion care (including second trimester) along with participating in our full service gynecology and pre-natal care programs. To give you an idea of our impact, we have an interview with a Doctor of Medicine candidate in this newsletter about the value of “hands-on experience” at CHOICES.
CHOICES is transforming pain management with its Minimal Sedation Protocol, a patient-centered approach promoting racial equity in healthcare. Our Medical Director, Dr. Ottolenghi, will be presenting this at Medical Conferences this year.
We understand our struggle is global – and in this newsletter we are proud to feature an interview with Edna Aden Ismail, a courageous path breaker in Africa whose efforts to improve women’s health have made an impact worldwide.
We also include a link to a powerful new documentary by UK Independent filmmaker and International correspondent for the Independant Bel Trew who went to Tennessee to do a deep dive into a state that had a Trigger Ban on all abortions as soon as Roe was overturned. I had the honor of participating in the film and in the New York City Events surrounding it.
NEW & EXPANDING SERVICES
At CHOICES, we take pride in being a leader in reproductive healthcare and are committed to delivering innovative care that combines quality, convenience and privacy. We are committed to continuing our partnerships, upholding the highest standards of care, living our IMPACT values (Individualized care, Moral agency, Patient power, Autonomy, Compassion, Trusting women) and ensuring access to all who need our services.
With the launch of our new services and the expansion of our existing ones, we’re excited to share our new programs: For more information, follow the links for each.
Comprehensive Abortion Services up to 24 weeks
One-Day Second Trimester Abortion up to 18 weeks
Expansion of Medication Abortion from 10 weeks to 11 weeks gestation
Telemedicine Medication Abortion up to 11 weeks for New York Residents
Rapid HIV Testing
Miscarriage Management
INTERN INTERVIEW
BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ABORTION PROVIDERS
INTERVIEW WITH MOLLIE MANLEY CHOICES PHYSICIAN INTERN
“Anyone who wants to learn to care for women should come here.”
The following interview is with Mollie Manley, a 4th year medical student who interned with Choices Women’s Medical Center last Fall. We hope her words will encourage more students to think deeply about the importance of women’s reproductive health and consider interning at CHOICES.
Mollie, you are a Doctor of Medicine Candidate at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, The Medical School for International Health in Be’er Sheva, Israel. You have also studied in Canada and have conducted research and published peer-reviewed articles. Given this experience, why did you select CHOICES for an internship and how did you find us?
Mollie: I learned about CHOICES and its program through Medical Students for Choice, which lists CHOICES as an internship option. I’m originally from Toronto, but there were no such possibilities there, so I reached out to CHOICES.
I want to specialize in OB-GYN care, and, especially in today’s climate, I want to get this exposure and experience. I didn’t see many opportunities to work with abortion care providers, and CHOICES’ model is unique. It offers full service OBGYN care in one part of the building and ambulatory outpatient surgery in another. Over four weeks I was able to experience many services, medical and surgical abortion along with basic gynecology and obstetrical care.
CHOICES PIONEERS RACIAL EQUITY IN PAIN MANAGEMENT WITH MINIMAL SEDATION PROTOCOL
CHOICES Medical Director, Dr. Joseph Ottolenghi, will be presenting our innovative Pain Management with Minimal Sedation Protocol at an upcoming Medical Conference in 2025—a patient-centered approach that prioritizes comfort, autonomy, and equity. Developed with a strong commitment to racial equity, this protocol aims to address and overcome biases often found in traditional pain management practices. By tailoring care to each patient’s unique needs and minimizing unnecessary discomfort, CHOICES is redefining equitable healthcare standards.
Key Benefits of the Minimal Sedation Protocol:
- Patient-centered care that prioritizes comfort and autonomy.
- A targeted approach to reducing racial disparities in pain management.
- Improved outcomes for populations that have historically faced inequities in healthcare.
Session Highlights:
- Understanding the Minimal Sedation Protocol and its patient-first approach.
- Exploring the connection between pain management and racial equity.
- Learning practical methods to integrate equitable practices in healthcare.
For literature on our Minimal Sedation Protocol, please email [email protected].
EXISTENCE AS RESISTANCE –
EDNA ADEN BRINGS DREAMS TO REALITY
Merle Hoffman
Founder/President, Choices Women’s Medical Center
November brought an early holiday gift. I was delighted to hear from a friend of many years, Edna Adan Ismail, whose work in Somaliland assisting women has inspired people around the world. She and I were able to speak on a ZOOM call about her experiences, and, especially in these difficult times, I want to share her inspiring example.
I wanted her to talk about the initial catalyst for her mission and vision for women’s healthcare. This is a commitment started in 1950 when she was 13 years old accompanying her famous father, Dr. Adan Ismail, on his rounds to treat patients at the 40-bed hospital in Erigavo, British Somaliland. He instructed her how to feed weak children, wash syringes and sterilize instruments and had her oversee his patients when, as the physician in charge of health services for the entire region, he had to drive long distances to other hospitals and cities.
Edna adored him and admired his generosity, hard work and passion for caring for the sick. She said his example of selfless service planted a seed in her heart to do her work with love and determination, despite the challenges. As she spoke, I recalled the importance of role models in my own life, having known a physician whose selfless service to patients influenced my values.
Edna went on to discuss her efforts to improve women’s health, especially reducing the high maternal mortality rate that Somaliland had. She began the first prenatal and first women’s clinic in the hospital in Hargeisa in Somaliland in 1961 where she trained midwives. One of her challenges from the very beginning was to gain the trust and respect of women in Somaliland, including traditional midwives who had no medical training and were suspect of what she said and did to help women in childbirth and pregnancy generally.
THE A-WORD DOCUMENTARY
Photo: Merle Hoffman (in front), with Connie Julian of Revolution Books (on right), participated in a lively discussion with award winning journalist and Chief International correspondent for the Independent Bel Trew (on screen) in December about Bel’s film, The A-Word.
The A-Word focuses on the total abortion ban in Tennessee, which the Dobbs decision triggered. After a screening of the film at Revolution Books in Harlem, Bel ZOOMED from Syria (4am her time) where she was reporting on recent events. Hoffman appears in the film discussing the history and current struggles of the abortion rights movement in the US. The A-Word powerfully depicts the horrors of anti-abortion laws in the U.S. and the bravery of providers and patients. Another showing was held January 9 at Soho House in Manhattan.
GENEROUS DONATIONS SUPPORT OUR WORK. THANK YOU!
We are very happy to announce that our 2024 pledges raised for abortion care at CHOICES, for out-of-town as well as NYC patients, is $264,100!
This was raised from a number of sources, including our Non-Profit, Choices Institute of Women’s Health and special funds for abortion patients, which are listed on our website.
