Abortion Breast Cancer and YOU
"Torso" by Henry Moore
The media, the medical profession and the abortion industry have had clear evidence of the link between abortion and breast cancer since 1981. Yet this is possibly the first you have heard of the connection.
BEFORE YOU CHOOSE ABORTION YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE RISKS.
If you have had an abortion, you have the right to this information so you can seek the advice of a doctor. Breast cancer if detected early can be effectively treated.
7,000 Australian women every year discover they have breast cancer.
Abortion is associated with Breast Cancer The Evidence is Compelling.
As early as the 1970’s independent studies in America, Europe, Russia, China and other countries implicated abortion as a breast cancer risk factor.
- Women who have an abortion - especially before their first live birth - increase their breast cancer risk by at least 50% (and in some studies as high as 150%).
- The risk may be up to 300% higher for women having repeat terminations, especially if there are no intervening births.
- The chance of a woman who has had an abortion getting breast cancer is greater if she never has a full term pregnancy.
- Teenagers who abort their first pregnancy are particularly at risk, as are women who have an abortion after they are 30 years of age.
- Abortion of a first pregnancy may be associated with more aggressive tumours of the breast and a higher incidence of recurrence.
(Note: # Risk percentages in most studies relate to chances of a woman getting breast cancer before the age of 45 years.
# Studies are inconsistent in their findings of whether miscarriage has an association with breast cancer)
THERE MUST BE AN EXPLANATION
As with other factors that seem to increase a woman’s risk or breast cancer, medical researchers axe not sure of the biological mechanism.
However Professor Janet Daling, epidemiologist from the University of Washington, suggests a likely cause. Over a seven year period starting in the late 80's she followed 1800 American women in one of the largest studies ever to uncover a clear relationship between abortion and breast cancer.
Professor Daling explains that in early pregnancy, new mammary cells are produced rapidly. Such cells are especially vulnerable to malignancy. Normally the hormonal changes a woman’s body undergoes by completing her pregnancy causes these breast cells to mature.
Abortion, by intercepting this natural development. may leave the breast cells unprotected and susceptible to cancer. Studies with animals and human breast tissue cultures indicate that cells suspended in their immature state are more likely to become cancerous.
Other Links to Breast Cancer
In Western societies like Australia the chance of a woman developing breast cancer by the age of 45 is slightly more than one in 100.
Some factors predispose a woman to breast cancer.
A history of breast cancer In the family (on either mother’s or father’s side) raises the risk, especially if the relationship is close and several generations are affected. About 5% of women detected with breast cancer have a family history of the disease.
Each decade of a woman’s life carries a small unbuilt risk which is cumulative so the likelihood of getting breast cancer becomes greater as you grow older.
High animal fat consumption seems to be associated with breast cancer but has not been shown to be causative. (Women with a healthy diet may still get cancer of the breast).
Women in higher socio-economic groups and those living in countries with a high standard of living are more likely to get breast cancer.
Taking oral contraceptives for more than 8 years, particularly before the age of 25, seems to slightly elevate the risk of breast cancer. Women using Hormone Replacement Therapy also run a small risk. (Yet women in the Soviet Union who have little access to western drugs but one of the world’s highest abortion rates have tripled their breast cancer rate between 1960 and 1990.)
Certain hormonal and reproductive factors are associated with breast cancer. You are at a greater risk if (a) menstruation began at an early age or (b) menopause was relatively late, (c) you have no children or (d) bear a first child after the age of 35. The operative factor may be a large number of menstrual cycles before first pregnancy.
Stress, personality type and high alcohol Intake, as well as exposure to radiation are being investigated as possibly playing a minor part in acquiring breast cancer and its recurrence.
BUT....these breast cancer risk factors have been in action for decades.And probably account for a relatively stable base level of breast cancer. They do not explain the sharp rise in breast cancer rates around the world in the last 25 or so years. The one new worldwide risk factor thatcould is abortion which in the equivalent period has also risen dramatically.
Your Decision
Of course we are not saying the apparent added risk of getting breast cancer presented by abortion will be your only consideration when faced with the complex and difficult question of whether to continue a pregnancy.
Maybe you need more information about abortion, what the procedure does to the unborn baby and the serious physical and psychological consequences pregnancy termination has had for other women.
Perhaps you could do with some reassurance that the tough decision to go ahead with an unintended pregnancy need not be made alone. That you can access good medical, financial, practical and emotional support.
- Make your first contact for help, referrals, a free pregnancy test or just to talk to an understanding person the Action Pregnancy Problem Centre near you:
- East Melbourne - (03) 9419 7622 (24 hours)
- Bendigo - (054)41 5795
- Frankston - (03) 9783 6250
- Geelong - (052) 22 1453
- Morwell -(051) 337254
- Shepparton - (058) 21 0991
- Warrnamnbool - (055) 62 6679
ABORTION AND THE BREAST CANCER LINK
Before you choose think twice. For your future health (some breast cancer risks like family history or your age or living in well off country like Australia are outside your control but abortion is a choice you don't have to makes). For the life of your developing unborn child (By 25 days his heart is beating).
- Sources:
- "Confronting Cancer", Wheeler & Selby, Penguin, England, 1993
- "The Link Between Abortion and Breast Cancer", paper by Scott Somerville, Harvard Law School, U.S.A., 1993
- "Do Abortions liaise the Risk of Breast Cancer?", research published in the Journal of the National Institute of Cancer (U.S.) by Professor Janet Daling, Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Centre, University of Washington in Seattle, U.S.A. reported in Time 7/11/94.
- "Pregnant with Doubt!", article by Deborah Hope printed in The Australian 23/11/94
- Major Studies:
- Pike, Henderson et al (1981), Brit. Journal Cancer, 43:72-6
- Brinton, Hoover et al (1983), Brit. Journal Cancer, 47:757-62
- Rosenberg, Palmer et al (1988), American Journal Epid, 127:981-9
- Remennick (1990), Journal Epid Comm. Health, 44:259-64
- Howe, Senie et al (1989), Int. Journal Epid. 127:981- 9
- Ewertz & Duffy (1988), Brit. Journal Cancer 58:99-104
- Olsson, Raustam et a] (1991), Cancer, 67:1285-90.
(Note: a longitudinal study of Australian women with breast cancer, including their abortion history is not yet completed)
Further information, please contact:
Right to Life Victoria, Inc..
233 Brunswick Road, BRUNSWICK 3056.
Ph. (03) 9387 6288.
FAX: (03) 9387 2182.