ABC link disclosure recommended by medical group

Press Release
Contact: Karen Malec
For Immediate Release
Date: November 3, 2003

MEDICAL GROUP FAVORS DISCLOSURE OF ABORTION-BREAST CANCER LINK

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer cheered news that the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) favors disclosing to patients a "highly plausible" relationship between abortion and increased risk of breast cancer.  AAPS executive director Jane Orient, MD said:

"The AAPS believes that patients have the right to give or withhold fully informed consent before undergoing medical treatment. This includes notification of potential adverse effects. While there is a difference of medical opinion concerning the abortion-breast cancer link, there is a considerable volume of evidence supporting this link, which is, moreover, highly plausible. We believe that a reasonable person would want to be informed of the existence of this evidence before making her decision."

Karen Malec, president of the coalition, remarked that "The coalition is grateful to the AAPS for taking a pro-information position on the ABC research. Women have a right to be autonomous, especially when it comes to life or death choices.

Mrs. Malec continued, "We encourage all medical groups and the cancer establishment to take a pro-information stand.  In particular, we challenge the National Cancer Institute, the American Medical Association, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to discontinue their pro-censorship practices by offering women an honest evaluation of the research.  Censorship has contributed to a public health catastrophe in the U.S."

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1996 reported a 23% risk elevation among American women procuring abortions.   Significantly, Newcomb et al. found that relative risk increased with age at diagnosis. 1

Mrs. Malec published an article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons during the summer, "The Abortion-Breast Cancer Link: How Politics Trumped Science and Informed Consent."  She discussed widespread scientific misconduct and efforts to conceal the research during the last half century. 2

Five medical groups say that abortion is one of the causes of breast cancer. 3

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.

• 1. Newcomb et al. (1996) JAMA 275:283-7.
• 2. Available at: www.jpands.org/vol8no2/malec.pdf.
• 3. National Physicians Center for Family Resources, Catholic Medical Association, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Polycarp Research Institute, Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.