ABORTION SIGNIFICANTLY LINKED TO BREAST CANCER-READ THE FACTS

World's First Abortion-Breast Cancer Settlement A landmark case involving the world's first known settlement of an abortion-breast cancer lawsuit was heralded by Australian attorney Charles Francis. Mr. Francis revealed that the plaintiff in the case had sued because her physician hadn't told her that researchers had associated abortion with breast cancer. A confidentiality clause in the agreement prohibits the identification of the plaintiff. The case was filed in the County Court of Victoria (Medical Division) No. 2000/06190. It was settled at Mediation on 3 August 200l. Mr. Francis revealed that Australian legal precedent had required doctors to inform their patients of any material risks of a recommended surgical procedure because patients have a right to decide whether or not to assume the risks of the medical treatment. He had this to say about the abortion-breast cancer settlement and other personal injury cases involving abortion providers: "In Australia the case of Rogers v. Whitaker in the High Court decided that before any operation a doctor has a duty to warn the patient of any material risks. Abortionists give the women concerned little or no information about the many risks of an abortion."

In 1996 two Australian women commenced legal actions because their abortionists gave them no warning that there might be adverse psychiatric consequences. Both these cases, 'Ellen's' case in Victoria and 'Cynthia's' case in New South Wales, were eventually settled for undisclosed amounts. "Since 1998 cases have been commenced which have also claimed the additional failure to warn of an increased risk of breast cancer caused by abortion. Recently one of those cases has been settled for an undisclosed amount. This is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world. A confidentiality clause which was part of the settlement prevents further discussion. "In another case to be heard in New South Wales shortly, 'Mary' (not her real name) is suing a hospital and an abortionist for failure to warn her that she might subsequently have a bad psychiatric reaction and for failure to warn of the increased breast cancer risk.

Mr. Francis' wife, Babette, is the National and Overseas Coordinator for Endeavour Forum, a conservative women's group affiliated with the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, an international women's group located outside of Chicago. Karen Malec, president of the coalition, said "We're delighted with the settlement of an abortion-breast cancer case. The abortion industry and its medical experts know that it will be far more challenging for them to lie to women about the abortion-breast cancer research when they are called upon to testify under oath. Scientists know that abortion causes breast cancer, but are afraid to say so publicly in today's hostile political climate." Mrs. Malec added, "Women and their families are the real victims of this scientific misconduct. Tragically, abortion data from the only Australian abortion-breast cancer study were concealed from Australian women for 7 years. Scientists could have spared women a great deal of suffering if they'd only set aside their abortion ideology and published their abortion data." The lone Australian study exploring the link between abortion and breast cancer was conducted by Rohan et al and found a 160% elevated risk among women who'd procured abortions. Abortion was not only the study's most significant risk factor, but also its only statistically significant risk factor. In spite of everything, the abortion data were never published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. [Rohan, et al, American Journal of Epidemiology (1988) Vol. 128, pp. 478-489] Rohan's abortion data were only revealed to the world with the publication of a meta-analysis of six studies by French researchers, Nadine Andrieu et al, in the British Journal of Cancer in 1995. [Vol. 72, pp. 744-751] "This isn't the first time that data has been withheld from women," said Mrs. Malec. "Data have been concealed in studies conducted on Taiwanese, Chinese and Asian American women too." [Lai et al (1996) Proc Natl Sci Council, ROC 20:71-7; Bu et al (1995) Am J Epidemiol 141:S85; and Wu et al (1996) Br J Cancer 73:680-6]

         Editors at the American Journal of Epidemiology which published the 1988 Australian study by Rohan and the 1995 Chinese study by Bu have repeatedly exhibited a deep aversion to data implicating abortion. In 1994 the journal's associate editor, Lynn Rosenberg, Ph.D. of Boston Medical School, threw rocks at the only study specifically commissioned by the National Cancer Institute whose authors, Janet Daling, et al, found a 50% elevated risk among American women who'd had abortions. Rosenberg editorialized that she couldn't imagine how Daling's findings could be of use to women. [Daling et al, 1994) J Natl Cancer Inst 86:1584-92] Mrs. Malec asserted that "The notorious Lindefors-Harris study was also published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Its authors were later accused of having covered up an abortion-breast cancer link among Norwegian women." [Lindefors-Harris et al (1991) 134:1003-8; and Brind et al, J Epidemiol Community Health, 1998,52:209-11] 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.

CHICAGO PARENT, Y-ME and NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PHYSICIAN MISINFORM WOMEN about the ABORTION-BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer accused Chicago Parent, the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization and Northwestern University Medical School physician Valerie Staradub, M.D. of falsely reassuring women of the safety of abortion and of minimizing the lifetime risk of breast cancer for American women. Two articles appeared in the October, 2001 issue: the first entitled, "One in eight," by Darcy Lewis; the second entitled, "Myths and Facts about Breast Health," by Eugenia Levenson. Mrs. Karen Malec, president of the women's group, said "Chicago Parent expects women to believe that the research is pro-life mythology." Twenty-eight out of 37 studies published over nearly a half of a century, most of which were conducted by abortion supporters, have demonstrated that abortion is a risk factor for breast cancer. They were published in respected journals. A medical book published in 1998 and the 1988 Henderson lecture both say that a first trimester abortion increases risk. [1] "Chicago Parent and Y-ME would have women believe that scientists publishing in highly regarded journals like the Journal of the National Cancer Institute don't practice science," said Mrs. Malec. Mrs. Malec asserted, "The Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health knew in 1986 that abortion causes breast cancer. Their epidemiologists, Phyllis Wingo and Bruce Stadel authored a letter to the journal, Lancet, and said, 'Induced abortion before first term pregnancy increases the risk of breast cancer.' [2] How dare these agencies keep it from women?"

Mrs. Malec added, "How can Chicago Parent, Y-ME and Valerie Staradub, M.D., a breast surgeon at Northwestern University Medical School, report that having a first full term pregnancy (FFTP) before age 30 and breast feeding reduce risk, but then deny that abortion is linked to breast cancer? How can a childless woman reduce her risk by having an earlier FFTP and breast feeding if she's aborted her child?"

Dr. Staradub relied on two tools currently being employed by the abortion industry to discredit the abortion-breast cancer research: reporting bias theory and the 1997 Melbye study. The group's website at www.AbortionBreastCancer.com explains why reporting bias and the Melbye study are not valid reasons to excuse the abortion-breast cancer research. "Reporting bias theory is a lame excuse for denying a causal relationship," said Mrs. Malec. "There isn't a single study whose scientists presently assert that they've found believable evidence of this phenomenon in the research." Mrs. Malec asserted, "Dr. Staradub selectively reported the data. She failed to tell Chicago Parent's readers that the 1997 Melbye study found a statistically significant 89% increased risk among women who'd had abortions after 18 weeks gestation. [3] How is it that she missed the fact that Melbye's publisher, the New England Journal of Medicine, no longer agrees with Melbye's conclusion that abortion has no overall effect on breast cancer risk? The journal identified abortion as a possible 'risk factor' in February of 2000. [4] Melbye's been severely criticized for its errors. Even a non-scientist could recognize some of the errors." [5] Mrs. Malec argued, "If Dr. Staradub and Y-ME want to talk about Chinese studies, why did they omit the Bu study which reported an almost tripling of a Chinese woman's risk if she has a single abortion? A highly regarded scientist, Dr. Janet Daling of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute, co-authored that study." [6] Mrs. Malec asked, "Why is the truth being censored from women?

We refer Dr. Staradub to the website, www.johnkindley.com , for a Wisconsin Law Review article which discusses the legal liability of physicians who fail to inform their patients of the increased risk." For women between the ages of 20 and 59, breast cancer is the greatest cause of cancer deaths. Breast cancer rates have increased among American women 40% since 1973 when abortion was legalized. 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. References 1. Robert B. Dickson, Ph.D., Marc E. Lippman, M.D., "Growth Regulation of Normal and Malignant Breast Epithelium," The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Diseases, edited by Kirby I. Bland, M.D. and Edward M. Copeland III, M.D.; (1998) W. B. Saunders Company; 2nd edition; Vol. 1, p. 519; and Henderson, B.E., Ross, R., Bernstein, L.; "Estrogens as a cause of human cancer," The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award Lecture, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; Cancer Res 48:246-253, 1988. 2. Lancet, Feb. 22, 1986, p. 436. 3. Melbye et al. (1997) N Engl J Med 336:81-5. 4. Armstrong (2000) NEJM 342:564-71. 5. Joel Brind & Vernon Chinchilli, Letter, "Induced Abortion and the Risk of Breast Cancer," 336 NEJM 1834-35 (1997). 6. Bu et al. (1995) Am J Epidemiol 141:S85.

Abortion-Breast Cancer Statistics Far Worse Than Reported The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, an international women's organization, announced today that the abortion-breast cancer statistics provided in a press release on October 2, 2001 by Concerned Women For America (CWA) are really far worse than what had been reported. Mrs. Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, said: "We are extremely grateful to CWA for having expressed its concern to the national media about the research which has linked abortion with breast cancer over the last 44 years. However as of this date, 28 out of 37 worldwide studies published since 1957 have shown a positive association between abortion and breast cancer. Seventeen studies are statistically significant, 16 of which found increased risk. A 1996 review and meta-analysis of 23 studies determined that 18 studies found increased risk. The review reported a 30% increased risk for the general population." [Brind et al. (1996) J Epidemiol Community Health 50:481-96] Mrs. Malec added that, "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

We sincerely hope that the media will inform women of all of the risk factors for breast cancer this month, including abortion. Our teenagers are especially at grave risk for breast cancer when they procure abortions. Dr. Janet Daling and her colleagues determined in their 1994 study commissioned by the National Cancer Institute that women who have abortions before the age of 18 more than double their risk of breast cancer. Even more ominously, individuals in this group have an incalculably high risk of breast cancer if they procure abortions and have a family history of the disease. In the Daling study, all 12 women with these characteristics were diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 45." [Daling et al. (1994) J Natl Cancer Inst 86:1584-92] A medical text entitled, The Breast, and the 1988 Henderson lecture published in the journal, Cancer Research, acknowledge the link between abortion and breast cancer. The medical text discusses the causes of breast cancer and states that exposure of the breasts to estrogen for long periods of time proportionately increases breast cancer risk. It specifically identifies abortion as a risk factor. It says, "Long-term exposure to endogenous estrogens (early menarche; late menopause; late age at first full-term pregnancy; and being overweight, leading to increased aromatization of circulating androgens to (estrogens) appears to increase cancer risk. Risk is decreased with early menopause (natural or artificial) and childbearing. However, first-trimester abortion increases risk." [Robert B. Dickson, Ph.D.,Marc E. Lippman, M.D., "Growth Regulation of Normal and Malignant Breast Epithelium," The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Diseases, edited by Kirby I. Bland, M.D. and Edward M. Copeland III, M.D.; (1998) W. B. Saunders Company; 2nd edition; Vol. 1, p. 519]

The medical text cited the Henderson lecture to support its statement that "first-trimester abortion increases risk." Henderson said, "Recently, we found that a first-trimester abortion, whether spontaneous or induced, before the first full-term pregnancy is actually associated with an increase in the risk of breast cancer." [Henderson, B.E., Ross, R., Bernstein, L.; "Estrogens as a cause of human cancer," The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award Lecture, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; Cancer Res 48:246-253, 1988] The Henderson statement asserting that abortion is linked with increased breast cancer risk was based on only two studies, the first of which Henderson co-authored and was the first American study. [Pike, M.C., Henderson, B.E., Casagrande, J.T., et al. "Oral contraceptive use and early abortion as risk factors for breast cancer in young women," Br. J. Cancer (1981) 43: 72-76; and Hadjimichael, O.C., Boyle, C.A., and Meigs, J.W. "Abortion before first live birth and risk of breast cancer," Br. J. Cancer (1986) 53:281-284]

28 Feb. 2002

QAQ Newsletter (Brent Rooney, stopcancer@yahoo.com )

 Abortion 'safety' claim: a costly malpractice 'boomerang'

(Medical Students take note)

 A pamphlet issued by the Red River Women's Clinic (Fargo, North Dakota) claims that elective abortion is ten times safer than giving birth. In 1982 Dr. David A. Grimes et al. reported that the mortality risk of giving birth was ten times that of women who had elective abortions.(1)However, the 'Grimes' study excluded (!) deaths caused by accidents, the number one killer of young women; 'Grimes' also excluded deaths via suicide, homicide, and cancer. I.E. the 'Grimes' study, in effect, presumed (!) that how a pregnancy ended had little or no effect on mortality risk via accidents, suicide, homicide, or cancer. A 1997 study of Finnish women reported that when ALL (!) causes of death were included, women who had elective abortions had 3.5 times the short term (i.e. 12 months) death risk as women who delivered newborn.(2) Thus, recent medical school graduates, considering offering elective abortions, might consider the costly legal implications of abortions claims vs. the facts:

Elective Abortion Mortality Risk vs. Giving Birth

Elective Abortion Claim Fact

Short Term-90% lower up to 252% higher (12 month)death risk relative death risk

Long TermSafer >10 times more deadly via (>1 year) breast cancer risk (see Appendix)

Malpractice Lawyer's Dream?

Medical malpractice lawyers love to see a doctor claim that his elective (!) procedure is much safer (e.g. ten time safer) , when, in fact, it is much more dangerous. In both the U.S. and Canada a medical doctor has a legal duty to protect a patient's health. To put a patient at a substantiallyhigher death (!) risk via an electiveprocedure violates this duty. Do recent medical school graduates want to spend time in med- ical malpractice court?

Is elective abortion really more dangerous?

Yes, elective induced abortion is more dangerous (mentally and physically) both short term and long term; please see the Appendix for the breast cancer risk.The mental damage is evidenced by the 546% higher relative risk of suicide.(2)

Other abortion risks may 'go to court'

There are at least thirty-four (34) studies that report that prior elective abortions significantly boost risk of preterm or low birth weight births. Very preterm newborn are at much elevated risk for cerebral palsy.(3) For more about this risk, visit: www.vcn.bc.ca/~whatsup/MedicalBrief.html Cerebral palsy is a brain injury malady and losing defend- ants in cerebral palsymalpractice law suits often have large damage awards assessed against them.

A learning experience

Recent medical school grads who want to see the inside of a court room can much improve their chances by offering elective induced abortions to patients.

References

1 Cates W, Smith JC, Rochat W, Grimes DA. Mortality from Abortion and Childbirth. JAMA 1982;248:192-196

2 Gissler M, Kauppila R, Merilainen J, Toukomaa H, Elina Hemminki E. Pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland 1987-1994 - definition problems and benefits of record linkage. Acta Obstet Gyn Scand 1997;76:651-657

3 Rooney B. Elective Surgery boosts Cerebral Palsy risk. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 2001;96:239-240

For Informed Medical Consent, Brent Rooney (Independent Medical Researcher) Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition Vancouver, Canada web: www.vcn.bc.ca/~whatsup email: stopcancer@yahoo.com

Appendix: Textbook reveals breast cancer risk of first trimester elective abortion

 Do mainline textbooks on breast diseases validate the 'ABC' (Abortion-Breast-Cancer) risk? From the February 2002 Endeavour Forum newsletter (published in Victoria, Australia, email: Babette Francis babette@endeavourforum.org.au ) comes the following item:

TEXTBOOK ON THE BREAST

Perhaps women should read a copy of the basic textbook entitled "The BREAST: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Disease" , Second edition, volume 1, edited by Kirby Bland MD, and Edward Cope- land MD. Blank is Professor of Medical Sciences, and Executive Surgeon-in-Chief, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island and Cope- land is Professor of Surgery, University of Florida, and Director of the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center. On p. 523 of their book it is stated "[Breast cancer] Risk is decreased with early meno- pause,(natural or artificial) and childbearing. However, first- trimester abortion increases risk".

If you have had an abortion, and since developed breast cancer or had other complications please let us know.

Email Denise: hurting@telus.net