A Magazine of Feminist, Progressive Thinking

Fearless truth-telling, daring commentary, challenging and creative analysis, pro-active conclusions. Articles from the past 40 years with surprising relevance for the present and the future, encouraging thought and action. We hope you’ll be inspired by the newly re-digitized On The Issues Magazine.

"She Had a Heartbeat Too" The Tragic Death of Savita Halappanavar in an Irish Hospital
by Ann Rossiter
Read More
Fracking’s Health Calamities Left to Fester
By Jan Goodwin
Read More
Women’s Liberation Consciousness-Raising: Then and Now
by Carol Hanisch
Read More
The First — and the Next — Time I Stood Up for Abortion Rights
By Sunsara Taylor
Read More
Convictions to Action: Lessons from Margaret Sanger
by Gloria Feldt
Read More
The Appeal of Fundamentalism
by Frances Kissling
Read More
Fear & Loathing Deconstructed: An Essay on Gloria Steinem’s Revolution from Within
by Naomi Wolf
Read More
The Politics of Violence
by Charlotte Bunch
Read More
Fay Stender and the Politics of Murder
by Diana Russell
Read More
Trans Health Care Is A Life and Death Matter
by Eleanor J. Bader
Read More
A Feminist Looks at Masculine Rage and the Haditha Massacre
by Kathleen Barry
Read More
Women Hold Demonstrations for Liberation in Iran and Afghanistan
By Carol Downer
Read More
The Terror of Motherhood in Somaliland and Women’s Rights to Safe Care
by Edna Adan Ismail
Read More
J’ACCUSE!
by Laura Flanders
Read More
Iran: Sexual Apartheid in Iran
by Mahin Hassibi
Read More
The Complexity of Human Relationships: A Tribute to Barbara Seaman
by Judy Norsigian
Read More
Know Thy Clitoris
by Rebecca Chalker
Read More
The Poet’s Eye: Spring ’11
by Judith Arcana
Read More
Sharing the Joy of Resistance Through Radio
by Fran Luck
Read More
My Heroines
by Marge Piercy
Read More
Fountain of Youth: For Men Only
by Molly Haskell
Read More
To Be Male or To Be Female That Is the Question
by Marilyn Stasio
Read More
The Republican War Against Women
By Tanya Melich
Read More
My Feminist Action: Locating Sex in Sexual Harassment and Rape
by Kathleen Barry
Read More
Filming to Shatter the Stigma
by Jennifer Baumgardner
Read More
Women And The War On Terror: An Unintended Consequence?
by Sallie Bingham
Read More
Who Stole Incest?
by Louise Armstrong
Read More
Natural Disasters, Climate Change Uproot Women of Color
by Jacqui Patterson
Read More
Previous slide
Next slide

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

Contributions from various authors who have played integral role in abortion history.

Activism and Politics in the United States

Thoughts and perspectives from acticvists on abortion, women's rights, equality and more.

Feminism and Love

Reflections on the dynamics of sex, love, gender roles, relationships and feminism.

OTI Classics

1998 Summer

Out of the Loop and Out of Print

by Kate Millett Another season at the farm, not that bad, but not that good either: the tedium of a small community, shearing trees, so exhausted afterward that I did nothing but read. A season …

2008 Fall

What Is Terror To Women?

by Susan Faludi Back in 1986, when the media was busy scaring unwed career women with tales of a looming “man shortage,” Newsweek famously declared that a 40-year-old single woman was “more likely to be killed by …

2009 Summer

Selecting The Same Sex

by Merle Hoffman There is one place where the definition of gender remains binary – in the womb. When it comes to sonograms, amniocentesis and standard pre-natal testing, there are no nuances. Here, the pronouncement, …

2010 Winter

Wonder Woman: A Comic Book Character Shows the Way

by Linda Stein How does Wonder Woman do it? She is able to stop the bad guys—even convince them to reform—without ever killing. Her gender-bending strength and power is matched only by her compassion, as …

Media

Abortionomics and Russia by Merle Hoffman

On The Issues Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman talks about “Abortionomics and Russia.” Check out more about her memoir, Intimate Wars: http://intimatewars.com

Abortion: A Different Light

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.

Choices Womens Medical Center NOW open in Jamaica, NY!

Check out the video chronicle of our journey to Jamaica! President/CEO Merle Hoffman guides viewers through the process of turning an empty building into a center for reproductive rights, sharing the nuts and bolts of being an abortion provider — from struggling to survive in a building with an anti-choice landlord, to persevering despite protesters, to designing space for patients. We’re proud of our beautiful new home, and can’t wait to share it with you.

Intimate Wars by Merle Hoffman

On The Issues Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman talks about “Intimate Wars.” Check out more about her memoir, Intimate Wars: http://intimatewars.com

40 Years of Choices by Merle Hoffman

On The Issues Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman talks about The Nature of Choice. Check out more about her memoir, Intimate Wars: http://intimatewars.com/

The Nature of Choice

On The Issues Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman talks about “Intimate Wars.” Check out more about her memoir, Intimate Wars: http://intimatewars.com

Merle Hoffman recounts her life and career as a women’s health care activist. She recalls her founding in 1971, two years prior to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, of Choices, an abortion clinic in New York City. Merle Hoffman responded to questions from members of the audience.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?306893-1/intimate-wars

About Us

Merle Hoffman, Founder/President of Choices Women’s Medical Center, began publishing On The Issues (OTI) in 1983 as a black-and-white newsletter sent out free-of-charge to Choices’ patients, staff and other interested parties. The enthusiastic response inspired her to develop OTI as the Progressive Feminist Magazine published quarterly through 1999, reaching a nationwide and international audience that grew to 20,000 subscribers. OTI went digital in 2008, continuing regular publication through 2012 and periodically after that. It became known for provocative and controversial articles, opinion pieces, and Hoffman’s editorials on burning questions that remain critical and relevant today.