Doctor says abortion saves lives… but didn’t mention the woman who died in her care

In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal, a New Mexico abortionist spoke about the so-called importance of abortion even as the life-ending procedures increase throughout the state. She also claimed women are allegedly dying because they can’t have abortions. Yet in her interview, the abortionist fails to mention at least one woman’s life lost to legal abortion on her watch.

Lisa Hofler is executive medical director of the University of New Mexico Hospital Women’s Services, as well as the clinical vice chair of UNM’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She’s also served as the medical director of the UNM Center for Reproductive Health in the past — which was involved in the unnecessary abortion-related death of Keisha Atkins.

In Hofler’s interview, she said women began traveling to New Mexico from Texas after the heartbeat law, which protected preborn children from abortion after a heartbeat can be detected, at approximately six weeks gestation.

“People came anyway, even though they thought they’d be arrested, because an abortion was that important,” she said. Hofler also claimed women are “dying” because of pro-life laws throughout the country — a claim for which she offered no proof, and one which echoes the debunked claims made about abortion deaths prior to Roe v. Wade.

“Doctors (in states where abortion is banned) are afraid to make a phone call even though they know it’s the right thing to do medically and they want to keep their license,” she said. “It’s a critical and important part of health care and an important part of our lives. It’s important to talk about it.”

Yet what is never acknowledged is the fact that women die from legal abortion. Keisha Atkins lost her life during the process of a second trimester abortion, with which UNM doctors and Hofler were directly involved, along with abortionists from Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) in Albuquerque.

In 2017, Atkins underwent a late-term abortion at SWO, and was repeatedly drugged throughout the process of an induction abortion, demonstrated in the video below. The procedure begins with the abortionist dilating the woman’s cervix and injecting a feticide, such as digoxin, into the preborn baby’s heart. After three to four days, the woman returns to the abortion facility to deliver the body of her dead baby, although she may give birth on her own at home or in her hotel room:

3rd Trimester Late-Term Abortion | Induction Abortion | What Is Abortion?

Atkins suffered from “respiratory distress” and “septic abortion,” and had been repeatedly dosed over a period of several days with two dangerous medications: fentanyl and Versed (midazolam). According to the CDC, fentanyl is a pain reliever “approved for treating severe pain, typically advanced cancer pain,” and is 50-100 times stronger than morphine. The DEA further said that side effects include “sedation, confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting,” and more, while Medline explicitly states that fentanyl should only be used to treat cancer pain, and can cause “serious breathing problems.” Versed is used to cause sleepiness before surgery, so, according to Medline, the patient will not remember the details of the procedure. Medline also noted that Versed is known to cause “serious or life-threatening breathing problems such as shallow, slowed, or temporarily stopped breathing that may lead to permanent brain injury or death.”

In addition to fentanyl and Versed, Atkins was given oxycodone, another pain reliever that Medline states can cause “serious or life-threatening breathing problems.” She also received at least two doses of Mifeprex (the abortion pill) as part of an experiment, and two different antibiotics – azithromycin and clindamycin.

Despite all of the drugs she was given, and the knowledge of her risks, Atkins was repeatedly sent to her hotel room, alone, with no medical staff to monitor her in any way. After being transferred to the hospital, she died.

Atkins’ parents filed a lawsuit against three abortionists at SWO as well as UNM abortionists Lily Bayat, Brenda Pereda, and Lisa Hofler. According to a previous report from Live Action News, “The lawsuit, filed by Atkins’ mother Tina, claimed SWO and UNM did not provide proper care to Atkins, failing to diagnosis sepsis two days into the abortion procedure or give her the treatment that would have saved her life. Despite settling, SWO and its abortionists still deny any wrongdoing.” UNM had reportedly referred Atkins to SWO for her abortion.

Hofler specifically was sued for delaying life-saving emergency care to Atkins in the hospital as she lay dying. UNM then tried to cover up the cause of Atkins’ death: an abortion. Ultimately, both SWO and UNM settled, with UNM specifically paying $365,000 of the total amount awarded — $1.26 million.

UNM is also known to have injured other women; according to New Mexico Alliance for Life, the facility saw at least 51 medical emergencies through 2019, with more injuries still happening; in 2023, they sent five women to the hospital by June alone.

Yet the Albuquerque Journal simply accepted Hofler’s claims — that abortion keeps women from dying — rather than investigating for themselves to discover how dangerous abortion can be within their own state.