Dear Friends:

G. Michael Corrigan of the Baltimore Examiner is a journalist who "gets it."  His July 7 article on the abortion-breast cancer link (see hyperlink provided below) reveals his understanding that an accepted breast cancer risk and a debated risk are each associated with induced abortion. 

The cancer establishment says that not having a child raises a woman's breast cancer risk.  The biological reason is that it leaves the woman's breast lobules in an immature, cancer-vulnerable state.  The longer her breasts remain in that state during her reproductive years, the greater her risk is. 

Childbearing, on the other hand, is known to protect her from breast cancer because it matures her breast tissue into cancer-resistant lobules during the last months of pregnancy.  Hence, the sooner she has a child, the sooner she acquires cancer-resistant tissue and the lower her risk is.

No self-respecting medical expert would dare to deny that an early first full term pregnancy is crucial in the prevention of breast cancer. The protective effect of childbearing is well-established in the medical literature, and it has been known for many years. 

An independent link between abortion and breast cancer (the only risk that scientists still debate) would mean that the woman's breast cancer risk is further increased because the abortion left her with more places in her breasts where cancers are known to develop.

The problem is, that neither the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) nor the U.S. National Cancer Institute is honest enough to admit that when a childless woman chooses an abortion, she loses the protective effect of an early first full term pregnancy.  Logically, her risk is greater than it would have been if she had had her baby.

The NBCC's position on the abortion-breast cancer link is not a surprise, given the presence of Cynthia Pearson - a former Colorado organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice - on its board of directors.  Pearson is with the National Women's Health Network, an organization that advances the abortion industry's interests.

During her interview with the Baltimore Examiner, Caroline Hinestrosa, executive vice president of the NBCC, was dismissive of the link.  She criticized the methodology used by Joel Brind of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute and his colleagues at Penn State, who demonstrated in their 1996 review and meta-analysis of the worldwide studies that abortion is independently linked to breast cancer. [1]

Dr. Brind pointed out that Hinestrosa is not a scientist.  Moreover, the United Kingdom's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) and Drs. Clark Heath of the American Cancer Society and Janet Daling of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have all publicly acknowledged that the methodology used by Brind and his colleagues was sound. [2,3,4] 

In fact, Dr. Daling, who calls herself "pro-choice," told the Wall Street Journal that the 1996 paper by the Brind team is "very objective and statistically beyond reproach." [4] 

Dr. Heath testified in a 1996 lawsuit that the team's paper is "quite extensive and the statistical coverage of the papers and the literature that bear on the induced abortion question is quite thorough." [3]

The RCOG published a statement saying that the paper "was carefully conducted" and has "no major methodological shortcomings and could not be disregarded." [2]

You can read Mr. Corrigan's article in the Baltimore Examiner by clicking on the link below.  Spread the word to family and friends.

Sincerely,
Karen Malec
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer

ABORTION-BREAST CANCER NEWS HEADLINES

"Is breast cancer linked to induced abortions?"
By G.M. Corrigan
Baltimore Examiner
July 7, 2007
http://www.examiner.com/a-817314~Is_breast_cancer_linked_to_induced_abortions_.html

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.

Tax-deductible, credit card donations can be made at http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com. Donations can be mailed to: the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, P.O. Box 957133, Hoffman Estates, IL 60195. The IRS recognizes the coalition as a 501(c)3 organization.

References:

1. Brind J. The abortion-breast cancer connection. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly Summer 2005; p. 303-329.
<http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com/Brind_NCBQ.PDF>.

2. Evidence-based Guideline #7 (2000) RCOG Press, pp. 29-30.

3. Testimony of Dr. Clark Heath at 121, Christ's Bride Ministries, Inc. v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, 937 F. Supp. 425 (E.D. Pa. 1996), rev'd, 148F.3d 242 (3d Cir. 1998).

4. Lucette Lagnado, "Study on abortion and cancer spurs fight," Wall Street Journal, October 11, 1996, at B4.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com

Breast Cancer Prevention Institute
http://www.BCPInstitute.org

Polycarp Research Institute
http://www.polycarp.org