Canada Pro-Life Group Under Fire for Abortion-Breast Cancer Ads 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 27, 2005
New Brunswick, Canada (LifeNews.com) — A Canadian pro-life group is coming under fire from abortion advocates and disease groups for running a billboard campaign saying abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, as studies show.
Life Canada is sponsoring the campaign, which started earlier this month. The billboards feature a ribbon normally used for breast cancer awareness and their web site address for more information.
The campaign has infuriated the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, who both claim there is no evidence that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer.
Jim Hudson, of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, says the group’s website is misleading, and that they are looking at whether Life Canada has infringed on their trademark by using the pink ribbon, which is a staple of the breast cancer community.
He says the pro-life group is sending the wrong message to women, but Joanne Byfield, president of Life Canada, defends the ads.
Byfield says more than 70 studies "have looked at the relationship between the two and about 80 percent of those studies have shown some sort of link between the two."
Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer agrees.
Malec sais it appears the Canadian brest cancer group is more worried about defending its pink ribbon than the health interests of women.
"The real concern for cancer fundraising businesses, however, isn’t trademark infringement," Malec explains. "The real fear is that the public will discover that their denials of an abortion-breast cancer link amount to a pink ribbon cover-up of a half-century of research."
Malec says the link is supported by 80% of the 70 epidemiological studies conducted thus far.
Malec also says Life Canada uses a larger maroon-colored ribbon which doesn’t resemble the more slender pink ribbon the Canadian breast cancer group employs.
"Nevertheless, the CBCF doesn’t own the pink ribbon. The pink ribbon is in the public realm. It’s used by businesses and charities all over the world," Malec says.
Related web sites:
LifeCanada Abortion-Cancer Info – https://www.abortionbreastcancer.ca
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer – https://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com
