For 20 years, Dr. Joel Brind has tried valiantly to spread the word that there is a link between abortion and breast cancer. The mainstream media have generally ignored or dismissed his work.
Now, a British Columbia writer, Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe, is presenting a similar message. Well known in the field of alternative health, she is an editor, researcher, lecturer, and author of a vast number of articles and two books (one an award-winning bestseller in many translations). She is currently writing a book on breast cancer.
Women, in particular, listen to Vanderhaeghe. In October 2002, just after the release of warnings about the use of hormone replacement therapy, she did a promotional speaking tour that focused on natural substitutes for HRT. Women flocked to hear her. In Charlottetown, the standing-room-only crowd far outnumbered attendees at a Women in Business conference in the same building. Quite a number stayed afterwards and peppered her with questions related to many aspects of reproduction.
Several publications that carry her work are available in alternative health stores. In the February 2003 issue of Health ‘n’ Vitality, a self-described sexual health educator asked Vanderhaeghe to state her sources for an earlier article that linked interrupted pregnancy with subsequent breast cancer.
Vanderhaeghe responded: “I have cabinets full of supporting documentation because I am writing a book on breast cancer.” She then cited reports in the British Journal of Cancer, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the American Journal of Pathology, and New York Times.
She adds, “There is also a legal basis for litigation now as a result of the connection. Which means if your doctor performed an abortion and did not explain the breast cancer risk, he/she is at risk of a lawsuit in the U.S.”
To support her statements that there is a breast cancer/oral contraceptive connection, she cited and summarized 12 studies.
Says Cynthia Chauncey, “What is exciting and hopeful is that many many women who would never be open to such messages from Joel Brind or any pro-life source, will listen to Vanderhaeghe, and possibly change their lifestyle.”
