Abortion predicts 3 breast cancer trends

British Researcher to Report Abortion-Cancer Findings at American Statistical Association Meeting on Wednesday

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer calls attention to research on the abortion-breast cancer link that will be presented on Wednesday, August 10 by British researcher Patrick Carroll at the Joint Statistical Meetings at the Minneapolis Convention Center - the largest gathering of statisticians in North America.

Carroll directs the Pensions and Population Research Institute in London. His research showed that abortion is the best predictor of three British breast cancer trends:

Trend #1: Upper class women are the most likely to develop breast cancer and die of the disease. For other cancers, lower social classes experience higher incidence and mortality rates. Abortion before a first birth (the most carcinogenic abortion) and delayed first birth among upper class women provide the best explanations for this trend.

Trend #2: Variations in breast cancer rates among regions of the British Isles can be explained by differences in abortion rates.  Breast cancer rates are greatest in the South East (116 per 100,000) where abortion rates are higher than in other regions.  Breast cancer incidence is lowest in Ireland (97 per 100,000) where abortion is prohibited.

Trend #3: Breast cancer rates increased approximately 70% between 1971 and 2002. Breast cancer incidence for women aged 50-54 in successive birth cohorts is highly correlated with abortion incidence, and is less highly correlated with other factors associated with breast cancer, i.e., fertility, prevalence of childlessness and age at first birth.

Carroll's research is significant because he used national data reporting breast cancers and abortions. Therefore, it's free of any possibility of a hypothetical problem called "recall bias." Opponents of the abortion-cancer link have never provided credible evidence of recall bias. Nevertheless, they argue that research depending on interviews with women to report their abortion histories is flawed because more cancer patients than healthy women accurately report their abortions.

Carroll can be reached at the Crowne Plaza Northstar in Minneapolis August 8-10, telephone 612/338-2288 or through the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer August 11-15.

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.