The Alabama Board of Medical Examiner’s has denied the application of Dr. Leah N. Torres to practice medicine at the West Alabama Women’s Center. Dr. Torres has been serving as the medical director for the clinic under a temporary license. Al.com reported the Board denied the application for a certificate of qualification on August 19 and temporarily suspended her license “until a hearing is held on the allegations against her” on August 27. A hearing has been set for December 21.
A letter of notice from the Board of Medical Examiners says that in her application, Torres gave false answers to questions regarding whether her staff privileges had ever been revoked or suspended at any hospital or health care facility.
Although Torres did not comment on the allegations, Robin Marty, spokeswoman for the West Alabama Women’s Center, stated, “West Alabama Women’s Center is following all state guidelines regarding its operation. We believe the actions taken regarding Dr. Torres’s licensing application are based on misunderstandings concerning documents she filed with the Board of Medical Examiners and the Medical Licensure Commission. We know Dr. Torres to be an entirely honorable and professional doctor and look forward to the resolution of the issues relating to her application and license.”
Several anti-abortion groups have all filed complaints against Torres. Rev. Terry Gensemer is the leader of one such group. “The abortion industry feels they are not accountable to anyone, and you can see it in the way they operate. They are used to getting away with things like injuring women or hiring doctors who lie on their medical applications. However, in Alabama, citizens are making certain the state holds these places accountable. Abortion is not welcome here, and we are exposing these clinics: prayerfully, peacefully and legally.”
Torres replaced previous medical director Dr. Louis Payne, who co-founded the clinic in 1993. In May 2019, Alabama passed some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. In October 2019, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson blocked the ban with a preliminary injunction, saying it was unconstitutional.
In a recent Rewire.News article, Torres explained the clinic’s intentions to expand its abortion services, as well as offer full-spectrum reproductive and sexual health services, including well-person exams, contraceptive options, STI testing and treatment, prenatal care, and trans health services. West Alabama Women’s Center would not just be a stand-alone abortion clinic, but a comprehensive reproductive health-care center.
When asked about expanding abortion services in Alabama, Torres stated, “I don’t know why people are surprised at expanding abortion access. When people get pregnant and they don’t want to be pregnant, abortion is needed. We can also address expanding food availability for the children in Alabama. Because 1 in 4 have food scarcity. Maybe we should also talk about that, since that is relevant to the context of reproductive health….Abortion can’t be discussed in a bubble. Yes, we should expand abortion care—just like we should expand education—and we should expand access to contraception, and we should expand access to breast cancer screening, and we should expand access to all of these things. Abortion care is just one of many that needs to be expanded in the state that has children who are hungry, people who are homeless.”
The West Alabama Women’s Center is one of only three clinics regularly performing abortions in Alabama the past two years and was recently bought by The Yellowhammer Fund, a non-profit that provides financial assistance for abortions in Alabama. The fund received a large influx of donations after the controversial 2019 abortion laws were passed. This money was used to purchase the clinic and has helped women access reproductive care.
