Brooklyn Middleton/Staff Writer
Though there is extensive medical research completely refuting the propaganda that abortion can increase the risk of breast cancer, anti-choice organizations continue to cling to their claims, blatantly spinning facts to support their anti-abortion crusade.
The “research” these anti-choice organizations rely on is antiquated and largely based on self-reported cases and personal interviews, which led to the publishing of literature declaring a link between abortion and breast cancer. However, according to the Feminist Women’s Health Center, the 30-year-old Swedish study that disproved this claim was based on a study of more than 49,000 women and was not based on personal interviews.
This solid research was a huge factor that led the National Cancer Institute to state that women who had abortions, even more than one, were not at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. However, it seems anti-choice organizations like the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer and Optionline have intentionally disregarded this research.
Simon Caldwell writes, “There has been an 80 percent increase in the rate of breast cancer since 1971, when in the wake of the Abortion Act, the number of abortions rose from 18,000 to nearly 200,000 a year.” Caldwell knows very well that it is logical that women would have been less likely to report having an abortion whilst it was illegal, thus making it nearly impossible to make a factual point about the seemingly sudden surge in breast cancer cases after abortion became legal.
Despite Optionline’s claim that “Carrying a pregnancy to full term gives a measure of protection against breast cancer,” it is pivotal to point out the citation is from the 1970s, making this claim decidedly outdated and intentionally misleading. The National Cancer Institute’s website adamantly states there is no link between abortion and breast cancer: “In February 2003, the [NCI] convened a workshop of over 100 of the world’s leading experts who study pregnancy and breast cancer risk. They concluded that having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman’s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer.” This scare tactic is particularly immoral. It speaks volumes about these organizations very foundations; in their desire to propel an anti-abortion agenda, they will tell women anything to discourage abortion.
The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer’s website states, “The abortion-breast cancer research has been suppressed for many years, in part because the political climate in the United States is extremely antagonistic toward this message.” If the political climate in the U.S. is indeed antagonistic toward this message, it very well should be. Antagonism toward tactics that dissuade abortion by distorting the truth should be decried and should seek to promote and protect women’s health must reflect the strong scientific research that there is no link.
The propagation of misinformation to women exploring their pregnancy options isn’t just anti-choice; it’s anti-woman and incongruent with the sanctity of women’s health and their inviolable right to choose.
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