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IUSCC oncologist persuades legislators to not inform women of ABC link
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Press Release
Date: July 5, 2011
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer Condemns Indiana University Simon Cancer Center (IUSCC), Indiana Legislators for Depriving Women of the Right to Know about the Abortion-Breast Cancer Link
The Indianapolis Star reported that Indiana state legislators were (falsely) persuaded by an oncologist from Indiana University Simon Cancer Center that abortion doesn't increase breast cancer risk. 1 Unfortunately, that testimony persuaded legislators to remove language from a bill, HB 1210, that would have required abortionists to inform women about the abortion-breast cancer link.
"Perhaps oncologists at the Cancer Center don't read standard medical texts," declared Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. "Medical texts have long recognized that increased childbearing, especially starting before age 24, dramatically reduces risk.
"Let me 'dumb down' the facts for the Cancer Center's oncologists. If, as medical texts say, childbearing reduces risk, but abortion doesn't, then the woman who aborts has a greater risk than does the woman who has a baby.
"Either the oncologist is ignorant of the facts or ideological bias and fear of medical malpractice lawsuits are motives for depriving women of the right to know.
"Remember how tobacco executives duped us about the smoking risk. According to former FDA chief Dr. David Kessler, the Tobacco Institute hired prominent scientist and American Cancer Society leader Clarence 'Pete' Little. Tobacco executives bought the silence of the American Medical Association, Harvard, Sloan Kettering Medical Center, UCLA and others by giving them funds for research. They considered purchasing United Press International. Kessler said there were good reasons to believe they purchased the silence of influential women's groups too. 2
"Unlike tobacco, however, abortion and its health risks are a doctors' industry.
"There are two more breast cancer risks associated with abortion, but only one is contested - the 'independent link.' Even National Cancer Institute branch chief Louise Brinton, Ph.D., M.P.H. admitted that risk in a 2009 study led by Jessica Dolle. They included abortion among "known and suspected risk factors," and concluded abortion is a risk factor. They reported a statistically significant 40% increased risk for women with abortions." 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. Gillers H. "A law of unintended consequences," Indianapolis Star, June 27, 2011. Available at: http://www.indystar.com/article/20110627/LOCAL/106270322/State-s-new-abortion-law-has-unintended-consequences?odyssey=nav|head
- 2. Kessler D. "A Question of intent: A great American battle with a deadly industry," 1st ed. Public Affairs 2001, pp. 207 & 275.
- 3. Dolle J, Daling J, White E, Brinton L, Doody D, et al. Risk factors for triple-negative breast cancer in women under the age of 45 years. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(4)1157-1166. Available here .
