Abortion and the Link to Breast Cancer

“It is only reasonable to conclude, from all extant evidence, that induced abortion is indeed a risk factor for breast cancer, despite the strong and pervasive bias in the recent literature in the direction of viewing abortion as safe for women. ” So states Joel Brind, in a landmark review of the evidence for the abortion- breast cancer (ABC) link (2005, p. 110). Over the last forty years, this issue has been an intriguing topic of research, for both scientific and ideological reasons. But what can we conclude from the published studies currently available? According to a comprehensive meta-analysis by Beral and associates, there is no scientifically verifiable link between induced abortion and breast cancer (2004). However many researchers remain convinced that there is valid scientific evidence for this link. This paper will examine the evidence for the ABC link and show that it is verified by both the physiology of the breast as well as the published, scientifically valid data. The biological basis for the ABC link is the cause for ninety percent of all breast cancers (Lanfranchi, 2003). This rests on two principles. The first is that the more estrogen that a woman is exposed to in her lifetime, the greater her risk of developing breast cancer. The second principle is that as a woman’s breast tissue matures it develops from type 1 and type 2 lobules (susceptible to cancer) to type 3 and type 4 (cancer resistant). The first principle comes into play based on the total number of menstrual cycles (and therefore estrogen surges) in a woman’s lifetime. Estrogen working in the presence of progesterone causes breast cells to increase their mitotic rate. As breast cells divide more rapidly, there are more chances for copying errors and translocations which may result in cancer producing cells