In this clip, The Nation profiles Leah Torres, an OB-GYN who shares her "career changing, life changing" work as an abortion provider in Utah, a state that imposes several restrictions on abortion care. Torres says, "As I learned more about what my job entailed and what it meant to practice here, I felt a responsibility to my patients. I felt like this can't stand...these laws actually force people to practice bad medicine and put patients in danger."
In particular, Torres discusses the implications of a Utah antiabortion-rights law (SB 234) that requires providers to use fetal anesthesia when providing abortion care to a woman who is at least 20 weeks pregnant. "There is no standard of practice for administering fetal anesthesia," Torres explains, asking, "Do I have to stick a long needle into her abdomen...requiring her to undergo not only a painful procedure but also one that increases risk of infection?" She states, "I'm not against regulations of health care. I'm against regulations of health care that don't abide by medical practices."
Touching on her own abortion-rights advocacy, Torres says, "My intent in advocating what I do and being so vocal about it comes from the shame that's silenced people." She continues, "That shame and stigma drives all of these bad laws, drives the violence, drives that person who shot [people at] a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs. So I'm trying to reduce that violence, I'm trying to reduce that shame and negativity" (Carpenter/Reynolds, The Nation, 8/29).
