• Older than age 40?
• Personal history of breast cancer (already have had cancer in one breast)?
• Personal history of benign fibrocystic breast disease?
• Family history of breast cancer (mother, sister, aunt and/or grandmother)?
  Risk increases if these relatives had it in both breasts and if it occurred before menopause.
• Never giving birth, or not giving birth until after age 30?
• Overweight after menopause?
• Menstrual periods started early and/or ended late in life?
• Personal history of ovarian cancer?
• Had a pregnancy, especially the first pregnancy, which resulted in abortion?

This risk is substantially greater for women who have a family history of breast cancer, or who have had an abortion before age 18 or after age 30. If you fall in one or more of these categories, see your doctor about breast cancer detection information.

The Secret Link: Abortion & Breast Cancer

One out of nine women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. It is the most common form of cancer affecting American women.

In 1999, 175,000 new cases of female invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed, and 43,300 women will die of the disease. It is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55.

We are convinced that women throughout our state need to be fully informed on this issue. They need to know whether they are "at risk," and to become familiar with any risk factors that may contribute to this devastating epidemic. Breast cancer is a serious threat to the women of our state.

While the national campaign is shining light on the risks of breast cancer, a dark secret is being hidden from the potential victims of this deadly disease: the obvious connection between induced abortions and invasive breast cancer.

Little is known about the fact that of the eleven American studies done on breast cancer, ten show increased risk connected to induced abortion. Although the National Cancer Institute has funded several of these same breast cancer studies, they consistently protect the abortion industry by keeping these important studies hidden.

Dr. Janet Daling of Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center performed one of these studies. She wrote in 1994, "Among women who had been pregnant at least once, the risk of breast cancer in those who had experienced an induced abortion was 50% higher than among other women." Dr. Daling (not a pro-life advocate by any means) went on to write, "I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion, but our research is rock solid, and our data is accurate. It's not a matter of believing, it's a matter of what is."

Medical Links

The first common reaction to this connection between breast cancer and abortion is, "How can this be?"

The most abundant and important estrogen secreted by a woman's ovaries is called estradiol. When a woman conceives a child, estradiol production elevates significantly. These higher levels are found in the mothers as early as five days after the baby is conceived, and within seven weeks, the mother's blood contains six times more than at the time of conception.

Estradiol is the very hormone that causes breasts to grow during pregnancy. The cells in the breast that respond to estradiol are called undifferentiated cells. Once these cells have been exposed to enough estradiol during expectancy, they become milk-producing cells. This is where the connection occurs, according to international expert Dr. Joel Brind.

Dr. Brind contends that if a pregnancy is terminated by induced abortion before these undifferentiated cells become milk-producing cells, they are vulnerable to the effects of carcinogens, which can give rise to cancerous tumors later in life. Dr. Brind writes, "If a woman therefore has gone through some weeks of pregnancy, she is left with more of these cancer-vulnerable cells than she had in her breasts before she was pregnant . . . Any abnormal, potentially cancer-vulnerable cells already in her breasts have also been stimulated to multiply." This increases a woman's future chance of developing breast cancer.

Statistical Links

The second common reaction to this news is, "Why haven't we been told?

Studies showing the link between breast cancer and abortion have been available since 1957, when a large Japanese study clearly showed the connection.

In 1981, a study in the British Journal of Cancer found that young women who had aborted their first pregnancy in the first trimester are 140% more likely to develop breast cancer. The same journal published a study in 1986 that showed a 250 percent increased risk in 3,315 Connecticut women who had an abortion prior to their first child's birth. In 1988, a Cancer Research study of Chinese women who had developed breast cancer showed that those who had induced abortions before bearing a child were 140% more likely to develop breast cancer. Dr. Daling's 1994 study added more weight to the concerns. Altogether, over 20 other epidemiologic studies have produced similar findings.

The sad conclusion that may be drawn is that the pro-abortion advocates have intimidated the media from pursuing an investigation into this topic. The public is left in the dark, and the link between abortion and breast cancer continues to be a secret from the general population.

What can be done?

First, examine your own health risks. Review the "Are You At Risk?"section, and decide to change your lifestyle to lower your own risk of developing breast cancer.

Secondly, tell your daughters, daughters-in-law, nieces and friends about the link between abortion and breast cancer. Provide this information to women who are considering aborting their first babies.

Next, get the word out. The political agenda of major media outlets has kept this important news from becoming common knowledge. This month of October is a perfect time for letters on this topic to be written to your local newspaper editors. As a woman, express your outrage that this important information has been hidden the public. As a man, express your concern that you have not learned of this to protect the women in your life. Quote some of the studies, and challenge the local media to investigate this serious situation.

Show compassion on women who have been struck by this devastating disease. Be careful not to jump to conclusions about their situations, but minister to their needs. Induced abortions increase the risk of breast cancer but they are not the only cause of breast cancer.