Interim Staff
On the morning of the March for Life, breast surgeon Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, clinical assistant professor of surgery at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey and co-founder of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, explained the biological reasons for the link between abortion and breast cancer, noting the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy and the cessation of pregnancy. She said that, “The link between abortion and breast cancer is simply the result of a woman’s biology.”
Noting that according to the Canadian Cancer Society, 102 women die of breast cancer every week in this country, the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus called upon the medical establishment to inform women of the increased risk of the deadly disease when undergoing an abortion. PPLC co-chair and Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott said, “Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women … yet that organization is not telling women about a well-documented, preventable risk-factor.”
In a meta-analysis of more than 60 studies prepared in 1996, Dr. Joel Brind, professor of endocrinology at Baruch College, City University of New York, established abortion as a significant independent risk factor for developing breast cancer. DBrind updated the information in December 2005 and still finds the ABC link conclusive.
Liberal MP and PPLC co-chair Paul Steckle said, “We are doing women a disservice by ignoring the epidemological and biological evidence that shows women who have had abortions are at an increased risk for developing breast cancer.”
Vellacott added: “Women have a right to be told about this increased risk.”
