British MPs to Propose Bill Investigating Abortion Breast Cancer Link

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 8, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

British MPs to Propose Bill Investigating Abortion Breast Cancer Link

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 8,
2007

London, England (LifeNews.com) — Members of the British parliament wants to add an amendment to an abortion bill the legislative body will debate next month as the nation marks 40 years of legalized abortion. Labour Party MPs Claire Curtis-Thomas and Geraldine Smith say they want the abortion bill amended to tell women of the abortion-breast cancer link.

Their bill follows on the heels of new research showing the number of breast cancer cases in England will skyrocket because of the high number of abortions in the European nation.

The bill would focus on more research into the link between abortion and breast cancer.

"This needs to be investigated properly. It is just another example of the possible physical repercussions women face," Smith told the London Daily Mail. "Women sometimes enter into an abortion quite lightly and in some cases it is being used as a form of birth control."

"We know there are psychological repercussions and it is now being shown that there are physical repercussions," Smith added.

Michaela Aston, of the pro-life group Life, told the newspaper her group would support the idea.

"All women have the right to know about the consequences of abortion," she said. "We hope the growing evidence of the link will encourage more researchers to invest time in properly analyzing the evidence."

Last week, a new study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons found abortion is the best predictor of whether women will contract breast cancer. Abortion also is a better indicator of future breast cancer issue than six other commonly used factors.

Patrick Carroll of the Pension and Population Research Institute in London conducted this new study and showed that countries with higher abortion rates, such as England & Wales, could expect a substantial increase in breast cancer incidence.

"Induced abortion is found to be the best predictor, and fertility is also a useful predictor," he writes. "The increase in breast cancer incidence appears to be best explained by an increase in abortion rates, especially nulliparous abortions, and lower fertility."

He found that, when abortion rates are low such as in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, a smaller increase is expected.

And in nations experiencing a decline in abortions, like Denmark and Finland, a similar decline in breast cancer is anticipated.

Carroll used the same mathematical model for a previous forecast of numbers of breast cancers in future years for England & Wales. He based the model on cancer data up to 1997 that has proved quite accurate for predicting cancers observed in years 1998 to 2004.