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Abortion Nearly Triples Breast Cancer Risk,New Study Findsby Steven Ertelt | LifeNews.com | 11/28/11 12:12 PM

A new study published by scientists who examined diabetes mellitus type 2, reproductive factors, andbreast cancer found a statistically significant association showing a 2.86-fold increased breast cancer risk from a single induced abortion.

The study, led by Lilit Khachatryan, included researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Public Healthand the University of Pennsylvania. Khachatryan is from the Department of Public Health, AmericanUniversity of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia; Robert Scharpfb is from the Johns Hopkins School of PublicHealth and Sarah Kagan is from the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania.

The study, published in Taylor & Francis , also found

that delaying a first full-term pregnancy, which is frequently done by women having abortions, alsoraises the breast cancer risk wheras giving birth resulted in a 64% reduced risk.

Khachatryans team reported a statistically significant 13% increased breast cancer risk for every oneyear delay of a first full term pregnancy (FFTP), with delayed FFTPs until ages 21-30 or after age 30resulting in 2.21-fold and 4.95-fold increased risks respectively. On the other hand, women with FFTPsbefore age 20 did not see a comparable breast cancer risk.

They wrote: Any birth was protective (adjusted OR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.200.66). Each year delay in firstpregnancy increased risk (adjusted OR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.011.27) as did induced abortions (adjusted

OR = 2.86, 95% CI 1.028.04).

Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer said she is not surprised by the findingsbecause, Fifty-four of 67 epidemiological studies since 1957 report an abortion-breast cancer link (notcounting biological and experimental evidence).

The study was not without some problems, Malec said, as the authors only one severely criticizedstudy (Melbye et al. 1997) to make a claim that they did not believe there was enough evidence to

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prove the abortion-breast cancer link. Although Melbyes team found no overall increased risk, theyreported a statistically significant 89% increased risk for those having abortions after 18 weeksgestation.

Malec also noted another problem.

Khachatryans group cited recall bias as a possible limitation of their study, but tellingly provided nocitations to support that claim. According to this hypothesis, the only reason that scientists find an ABClink is not because abortion really does raise risk. Rather, more women with breast cancer accuratelyreport their past abortions than do healthy women, she said.

Similarly, authors of the Uzbekistan Health Examination Survey (which received financial andtechnical assistance through the US AID-funded MEASURE DHS+ program) said induced abortion isnot negatively stigmatized in former Soviet states and that the collection of data is, therefore,successful, she added.

National Cancer Institute (NCI) branch chief Dr. Louise Brinton and her colleagues admitted in a 2009study led by Jessica Dolle that abortion raises risk, she said. They demonstrated that they knowrecall bias is a red herring used to prop up abortion. After Brinton and the NCI told women during theagencys 2003 workshop to disregard retrospective studies because they were flawed due to recallbias, Brinton and Jessica Dolle and their colleagues subsequently used supposedly flawed data fromtheir groups 1994 and 1996 studies for their 2009 study.

She notes that Dr. Joel Brind, one of the worlds foremost researchers on abortion and breast cancer,says, The recall bias argument has been repeatedly disproved in the literature.

Brind concluded that Khachatryans team did not-and perhaps were not allowed to-characterize their findings honestly in the politically correct atmosphere of the U.S. and Europe. The good news is thatthey were able to report their findings in a prominent peer-reviewed journal at all.

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