Chicago Tribune Publishes Biased Story on Abortion, Pregnancy Centers 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 26, 2007
Chicago, IL (LifeNews.com) — The Chicago Tribune has published a news story that is the latest "hit piece" by the mainstream media attacking the work of pregnancy centers. The article contains information from a study conducted by a pro-abortion member of Congress claiming pregnancy centers give misleading information.
The Tribune news story, published Sunday, features interviews with representatives of pro-abortion groups and pregnancy centers.
But, it also includes reference to a one-sided Congressional study and no comments of information from anyone rebutting its claims.
To back up the contention by abortion advocates that pregnancy centers, as the Tribine writes, "masquerade as full-service women’s clinics and give out false information to pressure vulnerable women into continuing their pregnancies" it cites a report from Rep. Henry Waxman.
The story fails to mention that Waxman, a California Democrat, is a strong abortion advocate with perfect voting records from NARAL and Planned Parenthood.
The Tribune says the report, "found that 87 percent of federally funded pregnancy centers reached by his investigators provided false or misleading information about abortion."
The newspaper, citing the report, also claims that "the centers told potential clients there is a link between breast cancer and abortion, which has been refuted by the National Cancer Institute, and that abortion causes infertility and mental illness, which is not supported by comprehensive reviews of the medical literature."
However, the information is accurate.
A 1996 report published by the British Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health looked at 23 previous studies and found abortion increases the breast cancer risk by 30 percent.
Biochemist Joel Brind of the Baruch College of the City University of New York says abortion exposes women to high levels of estrogen and affects the breast in a negative way, allowing a greater chance of contracting breast cancer.
Karen Malec, the head of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, agreed that the Waxman report is wrong.
Malec says research backs up that contention and she points to eight medical groups that acknowledge that abortion leaves women with an increase in cancer-vulnerable tissue.
"Like tobacco-state congressmen, Waxman et al. have worked to protect a cancer-causing industry and influence the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s scientific decision-making, without regard for the public health," she asserted.
Malec pointed to a statement from the American Cancer Society which reveals having fewer children, which happens in part when an abortion is done, also leads to more breast cancer.
On the abortion-infertility link, research shows that abortion can lead to infertility by increasing the risk of miscarriages.
A 1986 report in the medical journal Epidemiology reveals women with a history of abortion have a greater risk of fetal loss than women who had no previous abortions. Women with two prior pregnancies carried to term and no abortions had the lowest risk, while women with two prior abortions had the highest risk.
Meanwhile, a 1991 British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology article revealed that women with a history of abortion had a 1.5-1.7 times higher risk of ectopic pregnancy than women who had previously carried a pregnancy to term.
“These attacks on pregnancy centers only prove how determined those who profit from abortion are to keep women from seeking alternatives,” said Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America.
“Rep. Waxman and his allies would better spend their time educating themselves by talking to women who have experienced the damaging effects of abortion," Wright explained.
Related web sites:
Concerned Women for America – https://www.cwfa.org
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer – https://abortionbreastcancer.com
