Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Press Release
Contact: Karen Malec, 847-421-4000
Date: April 23, 2007

New Abortion-Cancer Study Severely Flawed, Says Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer / Group Calls on Journalists to Challenge Researchers to Do a Proper Study

A new study by Karin Michels and her colleagues on the link between abortion and breast cancer is seriously flawed, said the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. [1]

"We call on journalists to challenge Michels et al. to conduct a proper study that allows sufficient follow-up time between exposure to abortion and the development of breast cancer," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition.

At least four other studies [2,3,4,5] in recent years have been criticized for the same reason. [6,7]

"This isn't the first time that Harvard Nurses Study researchers [8] have produced the wrong epidemiological results," said Joel Brind, president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. "They were wrong about combined hormone replacement therapy {HRT) reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke [9], and they're wrong about abortion."

The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded the new study, Michels et al. 2007.  Ten years ago, NCI expert Patricia Hartge concluded, "In short, a woman need not worry about breast cancer when facing the difficult decision of whether to terminate a pregnancy." [10]

"So why has the NCI continued to spend millions of dollars to fund studies on the abortion-cancer link?" asked Malec.  "Clearly, its scientists must either suspect a link or know that it exists."

The study, Michels et al. 2007, focused on the debated breast cancer risk - whether abortion leaves women with an increased number of cancer-vulnerable breast lobules. It did not focus on the recognized breast cancer risk - the loss of the protective effect of a full term pregnancy. 

"Even the NCI agrees that increased childbearing, starting at an early age, protects women from breast cancer," said Malec. "Legislators have a moral obligation to require abortion providers to inform expectant mothers that if they have an abortion, their breast cancer risk will be higher than it would be if they have a baby.  That's settled science."

CITATIONS AND A COMPLETE COMMENTARY ON THE STUDY ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/commentary/070423/index.htm

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.