Abortion and breast cancer

Anti-abortion activists are touting the results of a study published in the November 2 (1994) issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that suggests an increased risk for breast cancer among women who have had induced abortions. Alarmed at how the study may play out in the political arena, both NCI and the study's authors warned against interpreting the results as definitive. "Taken together," cautioned an NCI press release, "the inconsistencies and scarcity of existing research do not permit scientific conclusions." In the study of 1800 women age 45 and under, those who had had an abortion were found to have a greater risk of developing breast cancer. In epidemiological terms, however, less than a doubling of risk is considered small and difficult to interpret; moreover, the study was limited to younger women among whom breast cancer is exceedingly rare. The researchers also acknowledged the limitations of their study, saying that the women with breast cancer may have been more likely to be candid about having had an abortion in the past than the women in the control group. An accompanying journal editorial noted that while the reproductive lives of the women involved in the study occurred mostly after abortion was legalized, "induced abortions are still emotionally charged for many women and they are generally underreported."