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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 4, 2006
 
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Another medical organization has gone on record as acknowledging that a link exists between induced abortion and breast cancer. The Philippine Foundation for Breast Care wrote a letter to the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, a woman's group that monitors information about the link, saying that it exists.

Cristina Santos, MD, president of PFBCI, wrote that the board of directors and members of her group recognize that the link exists.

"[W]e acknowledge the abortion and breast cancer link based on the physiologic changes in the breast lobules of a woman who chose to deliberately interrupt her pregnancy (induced abortion) and the risk for breast cancer this will pose to that woman," Dr. Santos wrote.

Though abortion is technically illegal in the Philippines, Santos said there are an estimated 500-800,000 abortions annually. That has resulted in an increase in breast cancer rates for Filipino women.

"Alarming to note that in 2004, the Philippines has the highest incidence of breast cancer in Asia," Santos wrote. "Indeed, women should be made aware of the abortion-breast cancer link."

Karen Malec, president of the Coalition, said, "We are thankful for the courage shown by Dr. Santos, her board of trustees and members of PFBCI in acknowledging the link."

Malec explained that during the first two trimesters of pregnancy, the hormone, estrogen -- a recognized carcinogen -- increases dramatically and stimulates cancer-vulnerable Types 1 and 2 breast lobules to multiply, thereby causing breast growth.

At 32 weeks gestation, another process -- "differentiation" -- protects women from estrogen. It shuts off the ability of the cells in Types 1 and 2 lobules to multiply and matures the lobules into cancer-resistant Types 3 and 4 lobules.

Seven other medical groups acknowledge that abortion leaves women with more cancer-vulnerable lobules and another, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, has said the abortion-breast cancer link is "highly plausible."

Related web sites:
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer - http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com.

From the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer

Women have the right to know that there are now 27 out of 34 worldwide studies (from among those 13 out of 14 were American studies) which show a link between induced abortion and breast cancer, seventeen of which are statistically significant, and most of which have been done by abortion supporters. The first study was published in an English publication in 1957 and focused on Japanese women. It showed a 2.6 or 160% increased risk of breast cancer among women who had had an induced abortion. [Segi et al. (1957) GANN 48 (Suppl.):1-63]

Abortion is an "elective surgical procedure and a woman’s exposure to the hormones of early pregnancy -- if it is interrupted -- is so great, that just one interrupted pregnancy is enough to make a significant difference in her risk" (Professor Joel Brind, President, Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, Endeavour Forum Public Meeting, August 24, 1999, Malvern, Victoria, Australia).

The American Cancer Society has stated in its fact sheet that abortion "may be associated with increased breast cancer risk" {American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures --1996, at 12 (1996)}. (An employee of the American Cancer Society with the Office of Corporation Counsel has asked us to remove the Society's 1996 statement from our web site. We have contacted the Society and asked them to inform us of the legal basis for their request, if any.)

Dr. Janet Daling, an abortion supporter, and her colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center were commissioned by the National Cancer Institute to do a study on the abortion-breast cancer link. The study 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." It was also reported that women under the age of 18 or over the age of 29 who obtained induced abortions had more than a twofold increase in risk. Women with a family history of breast cancer who procured an abortion were reported to have statistically significant risk increases of 80 percent. Teenagers under age 18 with a family history breast cancer who procured abortions had an incalculably high risk increase.

Because American women already face a lifetime risk of developing breast cancer of about 12 percent, the increased risk from a single induced abortion is comparable to the risk of lung cancer from long-term heavy smoking. However, not all women who have had abortions will get breast cancer, and not all women who have breast cancer have had abortions.

There is one more way in which abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. Medical experts universally agree that it is healthier for a married woman not to postpone her first full-term pregnancy. 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;31:701704]. An abortion causes a woman to forego the benefit of increased protection from breast cancer resulting from an earlier first full-term pregnancy. World Health Organization scientists in 1970 confirmed this saying that, "It is estimated that women having their first child when aged under 18 years have only about one-third the breast cancer risk of those whose first birth is delayed until the age of 35 years or more." (MacMahon B, et al. Bull Wld Health Org, 1970; 43-209-21).

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The number of women who have contracted breast cancer and are dying from the disease is on the rise and a women's group is blaming abortion for causing the problem.

Leading breast cancer awareness groups say they expect 5,170 more breast cancer cases and 560 more deaths than last year. In 2006, there are 274,900 expected cases of breast cancer and just under 41,000 women are expected to die from the disease this year.

One reason the numbers keep increasing is that such groups are failing to inform women that avoiding abortions and carrying a pregnancy to term can help reduce the risk of contracting the disease.

Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, blamed the government's National Cancer Institute (NCI) and breast cancer awareness groups for lying about the abortion-breast cancer link.

Harvard researchers showed two decades ago that increased childbearing, starting at an earlier age, decreases risk, Malec explained. Meanwhile research shows that having an abortion, especially as a teenager or before a woman carries her first pregnancy to term, increases the breast cancer risk.

"Women want to prevent cancer more than they want a cure," Malec said, encouraging the groups to focus more on the abortion connection.

"The NCI and cancer fundraising businesses (some of whose leaders once worked for Planned Parenthood or other abortion clinics) are more interested in protecting the abortion industry's interests than saving women's lives," she added.

Six medical groups recognize the abortion-breast cancer link, including the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.

"The longer a woman is pregnant before an induced abortion, the higher her risk of breast cancer," the BCPI notes in a recent publication for women. "This risk is especially high for teenagers who have an abortion in the late 1st or 2nd trimester and for those women who have never have a child."

According to the institute, "Only 5-10% of all breast cancer cases are felt to be truly genetic and caused by a breast cancer gene" meaning other causes, like abortion, are responsible for the rest.

Related web sites:
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer - http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com
Breast Cancer Prevention Institute - http://www.bcpinstitute.org

 

Doctor Says Education Needed on Abortion-Breast Cancer Link
St. Louis, MO -- A physician who specializes in breast health asked a
gathering of pro-life advocates Sunday to join a grass-roots movement to
educate about the link between breast cancer and abortion.

Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a New York-based physician, made her comments at
the 25th annual Archdiocesan Pro-Life Convention on Sunday at the
Millennium Hotel downtown.

The need for a grass-roots effort involving laypersons, she explained, is
due to a reluctance by academicians to disseminate information on the
subject, whether that's because they refuse to believe there is a link or
they "don't want to be involved in this topic."

Lanfranchi said there is evidence showing that women who have abortions,
especially in their younger years, have a greater risk of developing
breast cancer. Meanwhile, she said, carrying a pregnancy to full term
lowers breast cancer risk. The purported link involves estrogen levels
that occur naturally during pregnancy and the effect that abortion has on
those levels.

Though abortion doesn't present an overwhelming risk, she acknowledged,
"abortion is a completely avoidable risk factor."

Lanfranchi said 13 out of 15 U.S. studies show an increased risk of
developing breast cancer in women who have had abortions. But pro-abortion
activists claim any such link is bogus.

An area official of Planned Parenthood claims that at least two dozen
studies have examined such a link and determined there was none. The
National Cancer Institute and high-profile medical societies similarly
have dismissed any link, though such dismissals have been blamed on
politics, not science.

Lanfranchi stands by her belief.

In 1999, she confronted a doctor who did not mention abortion during a
talk on breast cancer risks. "What she said to me on the phone is, 'Look,
abortion is a risk factor, it's not really a big one ... but I don't
choose to talk about it,'" Lanfranchi recalled.

Such reactions prompted Lanfranchi to establish the Breast Cancer
Prevention Institute in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., about three years ago. Through
the organization, she has been able to study whether there is a link and
get the word out on her findings and those of others.

She said the information should not be used as a "club" to batter women
who have had abortions but rather, as a tool to help them avoid a risk.

"It's a woman's right to know," said Lanfranchi, who advised her audience
members to pray about the subject. "It's only right that a woman be
informed of this risk."

--
From:  The Pro-Life Infonet <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Subject:   Doctor Says Education Needed on Abortion-Breast Cancer Link
Source:   St. Louis Post-Dispatch; October 21, 2001

British Scientists:  Abortion Doubles Breast Cancer Risk
From:  The Pro-Life Infonet <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Subject:  British Scientists:  Abortion Doubles Breast Cancer Risk
Source:   The Age (England); December 4, 2001

London, England -- Women who have had an abortion are up to twice as
likely to suffer from breast cancer, British scientists said today.

In the first study of its kind in Britain, researchers said the risk of
breast cancer is significantly increased if a woman has undergone an
abortion.

The study, which looked at breast cancer and abortion rates in Britain,
Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, draws a direct link between rising
cases of breast cancer and an increase in abortion since it was legalized.

The research, by the Populations and Pensions Research Institution, an
independent group of statisticians, suggests that up to 50 percent of
breast cancer cases in England and Wales over the next 26 years will be
"attributable to abortion".

Launching the study, which was funded by the pro-life organiation Life,
Professor Joel Brind of New York's City University and director of the
Breast Cancer Prevention Institute in New York, pointed out it was
intellectually watertight.

He said: "Women are at risk and they do not really know about it. They
certainly don't seem to be finding out about it from the NHS."

"This implicates a risk factor that is a matter of choice," Brind
explained. "Simply undergoing [an abortion] once measurably increases the
risk of breast cancer. We are talking about thousands of cases of breast
cancer over the next twenty years. This is a very sobering statistic."

Researcher and author Patrick Carroll said the total number of breast
cancer cases is expected to more than double in England from 35,110 in
1997 to 77,000 in 2023. The rise was largely because of abortions carried
out on women who have not yet had a baby, Carroll said.

"Breast cancer incidence has risen ... in parallel with rising abortion
rates. There is no doubt there is a causal relationship," he said.

"Perhaps as many as 50 percent of these cases will be attributable to
abortion and unless there is a major improvement in treatment, the number
of women who die from the disease will rise alarmingly."

Professor Brind said a surge in levels of the hormone estrogen in the
first three months of pregnancy by around 2000 percent is the most likely
mechanism for increasing risk in women who subsequently undergo an
abortion.

Life pointed to the research findings to assert that abortion is
psychologically and physically dangerous.

Professor Jack Scarisbrick, chairman of Life, said: "We accuse the
government and the medical establishment of persistent refusal to take
seriously the mounting evidence that abortion is a significantly
independent risk factor for breast cancer."

--
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World's First Abortion-Breast Cancer Settlement

A landmark case involving the world’s first known settlement of an abortion-breast cancer lawsuit was heralded by Australian attorney Charles Francis. Mr. Francis revealed that the plaintiff in the case had sued because her physician hadn’t told her that researchers had associated abortion with breast cancer. A confidentiality clause in the agreement prohibits the identification of the plaintiff. Mr. Francis revealed that Australian legal precedent had required doctors to inform their patients of any material risks of a recommended surgical procedure because patients have a right to decide whether or not to assume the risks of the medical treatment. He had this to say about the abortion-breast cancer settlement and other personal injury cases involving abortion providers: "In Australia the case of Rogers v. Whitaker in the High Court decided that before any operation a doctor has a duty to warn the patient of any material risks. Abortionists give the women concerned little or no information about the many risks of an abortion. "In 1996 two Australian women commenced legal actions because their abortionists gave them no warning that there might be adverse psychiatric consequences. Both these cases, ‘Ellen's’ case in Victoria and ‘Cynthia's’ case in New South Wales, were eventually settled for undisclosed amounts. "Since 1998 cases have been commenced which have also claimed the additional failure to warn of an increased risk of breast cancer caused by abortion. Recently one of those cases has been settled for an undisclosed amount. This is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world. A confidentiality clause which was part of the settlement prevents further discussion. "In another case to be heard in New South Wales shortly, ‘Mary’ (not her real name) is suing a hospital and an abortionist for failure to warn her that she might subsequently have a bad psychiatric reaction and for failure to warn of the increased breast cancer risk. You are asked to pray for ‘Mary.’" Mr. Francis’ wife, Babette, is the National and Overseas Coordinator for Endeavour Forum, a conservative women’s group affiliated with the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, an international women’s group located outside of Chicago. Karen Malec, president of the coalition, said "We’re delighted with the settlement of an abortion-breast cancer case. The abortion industry and its medical experts know that it will be far more challenging for them to lie to women about the abortion-breast cancer research when they are called upon to testify under oath. Scientists know that abortion causes breast cancer, but are afraid to say so publicly in today’s hostile political climate." Mrs. Malec added, "Women and their families are the real victims of this scientific misconduct. Tragically, abortion data from the only Australian abortion-breast cancer study were concealed from Australian women for 7 years. Scientists could have spared women a great deal of suffering if they’d only set aside their abortion ideology and published their abortion data." The lone Australian study exploring the link between abortion and breast cancer was conducted by Rohan et al and found a 160% elevated risk among women who’d procured abortions. Abortion was not only the study’s most significant risk factor, but also its only statistically significant risk factor. In spite of everything, the abortion data were never published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. [Rohan, et al, American Journal of Epidemiology (1988) Vol. 128, pp. 478-489] Rohan’s abortion data were only revealed to the world with the publication of a meta-analysis of six studies by French researchers, Nadine Andrieu et al, in the British Journal of Cancer in 1995. [Vol. 72, pp. 744-751] "This isn’t the first time that data has been withheld from women," said Mrs. Malec. "Data have been concealed in studies conducted on Taiwanese, Chinese and Asian American women too." [Lai et al (1996) Proc Natl Sci Council, ROC 20:71-7; Bu et al (1995) Am J Epidemiol 141:S85; and Wu et al (1996) Br J Cancer 73:680-6] Editors at the American Journal of Epidemiology which published the 1988 Australian study by Rohan and the 1995 Chinese study by Bu have repeatedly exhibited a deep aversion to data implicating abortion. In 1994 the journal’s associate editor, Lynn Rosenberg, Ph.D. of Boston Medical School, threw rocks at the only study specifically commissioned by the National Cancer Institute whose authors, Janet Daling, et al, found a 50% elevated risk among American women who’d had abortions. Rosenberg editorialized that she couldn’t imagine how Daling’s findings could be of use to women. [Daling et al, 1994) J Natl Cancer Inst 86:1584-92] Mrs. Malec asserted that "The notorious Lindefors-Harris study was also published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Its authors were later accused of having covered up an abortion-breast cancer link among Norwegian women." [Lindefors-Harris et al (1991) 134:1003-8; and Brind et al, J Epidemiol Community Health, 1998, 52:209-11] The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women’s organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

First U.S. abortion-breast cancer lawsuit settled
Contact: Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, 877-803-0102; response@abortionbreastcancer.com; http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer announced today that the first U.S. abortion-breast cancer (ABC) lawsuit settled for an undisclosed amount on October 17, 2003. The case was filed in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. The plaintiff was a 17-year-old Pennsylvania resident when a second-trimester abortion was performed in New Jersey without parental knowledge or consent. Although she hasn't developed breast cancer, she sued her abortion provider, Charles Benjamin, for neglecting to warn her about the physical and emotional risks of abortion.

Karen Malec, the coalition's president, declared, "This settlement will teach the medical establishment that it can no longer profit by keeping women in the dark about the breast cancer risk. This case also establishes that abortion providers can be sued for battery if the abortion provider performs no parental consent abortions on minors from neighboring states (with parental consent statutes), even if the state where the abortion is performed does not have a parental consent statute."

The plaintiff's attorney, Joseph P. Stanton, will hold a press conference on a later date. For further details, contact his office at: 405 Old York Road, Jenkintown, Pa.; phone 215-886-6780.

The ABC link has been called "the elephant in medicine's parlor." Medical experts privately say abortion causes breast cancer, but the volatility of the issue prevents them from publicly acknowledging it.

According to a National Cancer Institute (NCI) commissioned study, teens who procure abortions before age 18, more than double their risk. (see note 1) Girls and women have a predominance of immature, cancer-vulnerable Types 1 & 2 breast lobules, which aren't matured into cancer-resistant Types 3 & 4 lobules until a term pregnancy takes place. Abortion can increase the statistical odds of developing breast cancer in two ways: 1) It delays a first term pregnancy; and 2) It increases the number of cancer-vulnerable breast cells because estrogen overexposure during a normal pregnancy stimulates cell multiplication. Women don't receive protection from estrogen overexposure until third trimester hormones mature their breast tissue into milk-producing Types 3 & 4 lobules.

Scientists have proven themselves incapable of refuting the biological explanation for the ABC link. Thirteen out of 16 U.S. studies report risk elevations. The NCI provided at least partial funding for 10 studies.

Minnesota and Texas state legislators passed informed consent legislation earlier this year. Massachusetts is considering similar legislation. Five medical organizations say abortion is one of the causes of breast cancer. (see note 2)

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

References (Available at http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com):

(1) Daling et al. (1994) J National Cancer Institute 86:1584-92.

(2) National Physicians Center for Family Resources, Catholic Medical Association, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Polycarp Research Institute, Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.


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