NCI Addresses Abortion-Cancer Risk

Following a suggestion raised on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Web site, a scientific panel appointed by the director of the NCI has determined that there is no evidence supporting the claim that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer later in life. The panel made its conclusion based on 4 new studies and a review of earlier studies.

Critics have contended that the Bush administration revised its fact sheet on the connection between induced abortions and breast cancer to please conservative constituents, a claim that administration officials have denied. The NCI said that it planned to post a new fact sheet soon on its Web site, www.cancer.gov, addressing breast cancer and the events that happen in a woman?s early reproductive years. The new report says that neither induced abortion nor spontaneous abortion is associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.