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"Alabama Physicians For Life, Inc. believes that patients have the right to be fully informed regarding potentially adverse effects before undergoing medical treatment. While a difference of medical opinion exists concerning the abortion-breast cancer link, there is a significant amount of reasonable evidence supporting the link.

Because we recognize the right to informed consent before entering into medical treatment for other body systems, we believe that the majority of women would want to be informed of the evidence of a relationship between abortion and breast cancer before making an abortion decision."

www.bcpinstitute.org Breast Cancer Prevention Institute

 

An abortion during high estrogen levels in the early months of pregnancy predisposes a woman to getting breast cancer. In fact, a full-term pregnancy early in a woman's reproductive life is protective against breast cancer.

* A 1948 study in Japan found that among women who had breast cancer, there were 3 times as many pregnancies that ended in induced abortion.

* A 1981 study found a 140 percent increased risk of breast cancer before the age of 33 for those who had induced abortions. [for more info, visit www.abortionbreastcancer.com]

* A 1995 Harvard University study on over 2,000 women in Greece found a significant 51 percent increased breast cancer risk among women who had any abortions.

 

* A 1994 National Cancer Institute study of over 1,800 women in Washington State found a significant 50 percent increased risk among women who had any abortions.

The breast cancer risk was more than double for women whose abortion (or first abortion) took place before age 18 or over age 30, according to recent studies.

28 of 37 international studies done since 1957 have demonstrated a relationship of induced abortion with breast cancer. Thirteen of 15 U.S. studies confirm this link. Dr. H. Howe in 1999, through NCI, used New York state official health department records and found that aborting a woman's first pregnancy was associated with a 1.7 times increased risk of breast cancer under age 40. If she aborted her second or third pregnancy, her risk was increased 4-fold.

A second NCI study in 1994 by Dr. Janet Daling, highly respected epidemiologist, found that induced abortion increased the risk of breast cancer before age 45 by 50 percent. If done before age 18, the risk increased by 150 percent. If done after age 30, the risk increased by 270 percent. All 12 women in her study with such a family member, who aborted before age 18, got breast cancer before age 45.

Over the past 34 years, 25-30 million women in North America have undergone induced abortions, and "at least 11 percent, at a conservative estimate, have experienced physical or psychological complications". Approximately 27 studies worldwide have documented an average 30 percent increased risk of breast cancer among women who have abortions; a young woman who opts for abortion doubles her risk of developing breast cancer.

"If there is a right to choose, there is also a right to know."

["Women's Health After Abortion: The Medical and Psychological Evidence", de Veber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research, Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy and Ian Gentles, 2002 (333 pages) www.deveber.org, 416-256-0555; the report is based on 500+ medical and other journal articles published over the past 20 years.]

Therapeutic Abortion & Breast Cancer – by Joel Brind, Ph.D.; for the complete text: http://198.78.170.85/news/2001/NRL02/joel.html

 

MEDICAL FLIP/FLOP In an article in The Times of London 14Aug00, Dr. Thomas Stuttaford wrote, "As yet there is no evidence of a causative link between abortion and breast cancer".

In another article for The Times [17May01], Stuttaford reversed his position: "Breast cancer is diagnosed in 33,000 women in the U.K. each year; of these, an unusually high proportion had an abortion before eventually starting a family. Such women are up to four times more likely to develop breast cancer."

He said that an abortion interrupts cellular changes that occur in the breast during pregnancy. "Once the woman has had children," he wrote, "the effect is less because the cellular changes have been completed". [FRC News, OctNov01]

For detailed information regarding the ABC Link, visit: http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/ABC_Research.htm#Abortion/Breast%20Cancer%20Graphs

Book Shows Abortion-Breast Cancer Link Washington, DC — Breast cancer is becoming an epidemic in the United States. It has been estimated that one out of eight women will get this disease during her lifetime. Each year more than 175,000 women develop breast cancer and 43,000 will die from it.

In 1993, Dr. Chris Kahlenborn began researching the possible connection between rising levels of breast cancer among women, abortion, and The Pill. After six years of research, Kahlenborn published his findings in Breast Cancer: Its Link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill.

In his investigation, Kahlenborn analyzed hundreds of medical studies conducted since the 1960s. According to Kahlenborn, "Based on the most comprehensive medical evidence available, induced abortion and the birth control pill are both independent risk factors for the development of breast cancer. The risk is especially great if the woman has participated in either of these factors at a young age."

Kahlenborn's research indicates the following: * A woman who has an abortion prior to her first full-term pregnancy can have at least a 50 percent increased risk of developing breast cancer.

* A woman who takes birth control pills before her first child is born has at least a 40 percent increased risk of developing breast cancer.

* A woman who has taken the pill for four or more years prior to the birth of her first child, has a 72 percent risk factor in developing breast cancer.

Based on current studies, more than 46,800 women may develop breast cancer yearly due to the use of contraceptives. More than 10,000 will die.

Yet despite convincing evidence
of the dangers of breast cancer from abortions and contraceptive use, abortion centers continue to promote abortion on demand.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion lobbies continue to push for contraceptives on high school campuses, oppose parental consent or notification laws, and even oppose partial-birth abortion (infanticide).

Groups like Planned Parenthood are rightfully fearful that the breast cancer/abortion/contraceptive link could harm their business. These organizations are apparently so radically committed to protecting the "right" of women to abort their unwanted children, that they are also willing to allow these same women to remain ignorant of the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

If women and teenage girls read Breast Cancer: Its Link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill, they might be less likely to choose abortion or to engage in promiscuous sex by using an oral contraceptive.

[Traditional Values Coalition Article; 19 Dec00] To order a copy of this new book, point your web browser to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966977734/roevwade26yearof 2. New England Journal Of Medicine Recognizes Abortion/ Breast Cancer Link

The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has acknowledged the connection between induced abortion and breast cancer. Mrs. Karen Malec, President of the Illinois Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, said "Now that 27 out of 33 worldwide studies have reported a link between abortion and breast cancer (13 out of 14 of which are American studies reporting a link) and 43 years since the first study, the New England Journal of Medicine has finally chosen to recognize the overwhelming evidence of an abortion-breast cancer link." [Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, P.O. Box 152, Palos Heights, IL 60463; NEJM 2/00; 1-877-803-0102 Toll Free; www.abortionbreastcancer.com; Arlington Heights, Illinois, 22Jul00 (CN)]

3. Abortion & Breast Cancer — What the Experts Say (July 22, 2000) The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer was formed recently by a group of women in the Chicago area concerned about the fact that women were not being told by the National Cancer Institute (which is now being investigated by Congress), by their physicians (who are uninformed) and by anti-cancer organizations that there are now 27 out of 33 worldwide studies which have linked induced abortion to breast cancer.

The first study was reported in an English language journal, GANN, in 1957. [Segi M et al. GANN (1957); 48 (Suppl): 1-63]. The next study was published in 1970 by the World Health Organization. [MacMahon B, et al. Bull Wld Health Org (1970); 43-209-21]. Our purpose is to educate women and to save lives. You can view the web site at http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com.

There are two ways in which abortion may cause breast cancer. First, experts universally agree that having a child provides a woman with a natural protection against breast cancer and that it is healthier for a married woman not to postpone her first full-term pregnancy.

In fact, one Harvard study reported that each year that a woman postpones her first full-term pregnancy increases her breast cancer risk by 3.5%. [Dr. Brian MacMahon, Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, et al., "Age at any Birth and Breast Cancer Risk," International Journal of Cancer, 1983;31:701-704].

Obviously, having an abortion causes a woman to forego the protective effect that a full-term pregnancy would have afforded her.

Dr. Joel Brind, the President of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, explains that most known risk factors for breast cancer involve estrogen overexposure. For example, women who reach puberty at an early age or menopause at a late age or who have fewer or no children, experience more menstrual cycles and are, therefore, exposed to higher levels of estradiol (a form of estrogen) and have a higher risk of breast cancer. Women who nurse their children, on the other hand, experience a reduction in the number of menstrual cycles and reduce their risk of breast cancer by doing so. (Dr. Joel Brind, "The Estrogen Connection," www.abortioncancer.com).

Second, 27 out of 33 worldwide studies have independently linked abortion with breast cancer. Thirteen of fourteen of these studies are American studies which show a link. Five show more than twofold elevation in risk. Seventeen are statistically significant.

In 1996 Dr. Brind conducted a review and meta-analysis of the worldwide studies, most of which were done by abortion supporters. [Brind et al. (1996) Journal of Epidemiol Community Health 50:481-96].

On March 13, 2000, the U.K.'s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists became the first medical organization to warn its abortion practitioners, saying that Dr. Brind's review was "methodologically sound" and that the abortion-breast cancer link "could not be disregarded." ["Evidence-based Guideline No. 7: The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion," Press Release, March 13, 2000].

Dr. Brind has conservatively estimated that there are presently an additional 5,000 to 8,000 cases of breast cancer per year due to earlier abortions and that by the year 2020 there will be an additional 40,000 to 50,000 cases of breast cancer yearly. Will our health care system be able to cope with this?

One especially disturbing study on women was done by Dr. Janet Daling at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 1994.

Dr. Daling, an abortion supporter, found that "among women who had been pregnant at least once, the risk of breast cancer in those who had experienced an induced abortion was 50% higher than among other women" [Janet R. Daling et al., "Risk of Breast Cancer Among Young Women: Relationship to Induced Abortion," 86, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1584, 1994].

Dr. Daling's study found that a teenager who has an abortion more than doubles her risk of getting breast cancer. Daling reported that a teenager with a family history of breast cancer who procures an abortion faces a risk of breast cancer that is "incalculably high." All 12 women in her study with this history were diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 45.

An attorney who authored an article for the Wisconsin Law Review last year on the subject of informed consent and the abortion-breast cancer connection, John Kindley, has argued that physicians who breach this duty face considerable legal liability and can be sued for medical malpractice. (John Kindley, www.johnkindley.com). He is currently representing a North Dakota woman in a false advertising suit against a clinic which was distributing a pamphlet containing false statements about the abort

ion-breast-cancer link.

Mr. Kindley explains the significance of the increased risk of breast cancer following an induced abortion: "The real significance of a relative risk increase depends upon the background risk which is increased. For example, although smoking increases the risk of lung cancer by a factor of 10.0, the background risk of lung cancer for nonsmokers is very low.

By contrast, an average American woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer is about twelve percent. A 1.3 relative risk increase from an induced abortion would therefore indicate about a four percent increase in absolute terms. Estimating a twenty-five percent mortality rate, this figure would suggest that about 1 out of 100 women who have had an induced abortion die from breast cancer attributable to the abortion." (johnkindley.com, Wisconsin Law Review article, p. 1620).

The abortion industry relies heavily upon the Melbye study to dispute the abortion-breast cancer link, however even this study reported that "with each one-week increase in the gestational age of the fetus…there was a 3 percent increase in the risk of breast cancer."

The study reported no overall positive association between abortion and breast cancer. (Melbye et al. (1997) New England Journal of Medicine,336:81-5).

However, The Melbye study has been severely criticized for errors of misclassification and data adjustment. [Dr. Joel Brind, "Rotten in Denmark," www.abortioncancer.com]. In addition, Melbye and colleagues attempted to correct these errors in a subsequent study in 1999, but did not admit that they were doing so and did not reanalyze their data after correcting their errors. [Melbye M., Wohlfahrt J., Anderson A..M., Westergaard T., Andersen P.K., "Preterm Delivery and Risk of Breast Cancer," Br. J. Cancer (1999);80:609-613]. Dr. Brind and his colleagues believe that the 1997 study actually masked an increased risk of 40%.

In February 2000 the New England Journal of Medicine, arguably the world's most influential medical journal, acknowledged the abortion-breast cancer link in the text of an article written by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in spite of having published the much criticized Melbye study three years ago. [Armstrong (2000) NEJM 342:564-71].

Planned Parenthood expert, Dr. Lynn Rosenberg, a Boston University Medical School epidemiologist, testified last year in a Florida case on the abortion-breast cancer link.

When asked by an attorney whether a pregnant 15 year old who aborts her pregnancy has a higher risk of breast cancer than one who carries her pregnancy to term, Dr. Rosenberg answered, "Probably, yes." [Dr. Joel Brind, "ABC in the Courts: Dramatic ABC Testimony in Florida's Parental Notification Appeal," Abortion-Breast Cancer Quarterly Update, (Fall, 1999) Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 1].

In July of 1998 Congressman Tom Coburn M.D., an obstetrician- gynecologist, questioned a representative from the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Edison Liu, during a Commerce Committee hearing on the State of Cancer Research.

Congressman Coburn accused the NCI of misleading the public and "selectively releasing data" on the abortion-breast cancer link, in part because of the NCI's false claim on its web site in 1998 that the abortion-breast cancer link is "based on limited experimental data in rats, and is not consistent with human data."

Congressman Tom Bliley is currently leading a congressional investigation into the widespread misrepresentation of the medical literature by the NCI. Under pressure from Congress, the NCI revised its web site last year, but its web page on the abortion-breast cancer link is conspicuous for what it still does not tell women (i.e. that there are 27 out of 33 worldwide studies linking abortion with breast cancer; that 13 out of 14 American studies associated this risk factor with abortion; that 5 studies report a more than twofold increase in risk; and that 17 are statistically significant).

Congressman Dave Weldon M.D. sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to all members of Congress on August 24, 1999 on the need to provide women with informed consent and called abortion a "significant health risk" and a "health care time-bomb." Women have the right to know that a majority of studies show an abortion-breast cancer link. In fact, we find it paternalistic that women have been prevented from making informed choices about this women's health issue.