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Abortion-Cancer Link Has Malpractice Implications for Doctors says Medical Journal

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Illinois, March 30, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a recent article, "Legal implications of a link between abortion and breast cancer," appearing in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, an attorney for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) warns doctors that they have a duty to disclose the risks of abortion - including the link between abortion and breast cancer.

Andrew Schlafly, Esq., general counsel for the AAPS, warned doctors that two malpractice lawsuits have already been successfully prosecuted in the U.S. for failing to disclose the link. "The most common type of malpractice case in the U.S. is failure to diagnose breast cancer," Schlafly pointed out, as described by Karen Malec, President of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, in a release. "The average payout is $200,000, not counting other related costs. Courts may find doctors have a 'heightened duty to screen' patients for cancer."

Schlafly said that more abortions would result in higher breast cancer rates. He criticized the widely-cited conclusions reached by researchers who claimed there was no link between abortion and breast cancer in a Lancet article in 2004. "The Lancet article relies entirely on a hypothetical comparison," Schlafly emphasized. The Lancet authors compared the effects of having an abortion to not having had that pregnancy.

"Schlafly joined other experts who have criticized the Lancet paper's many flaws," Malec explained. "He observed that most large studies found an independent link, beyond the loss of the protective effect of childbearing. The Lancet's data demonstrated 'a clear correlation,' even after its authors excluded studies showing the highest correlation and added 'dubious studies.'"

"Most abortion-positive women haven't reached the age when they're most likely to develop the disease - 50 years and older," Malec continued. "Schlafly estimated an absolute lifetime risk of 1 in 3 and predicted 'staggering' costs for society. Noting that the tobacco industry had to pay the costs of lung cancer, he wondered who would pay the costs of breast cancer?"

"The cancer fundraising industry is poised to reap a windfall because it failed to warn women about the recognized cancer risk of abortion," Malec asserted. "It hoodwinked journalists, lawmakers, doctors and the public about both cancer risks. The abortion and the cancer fundraising industries should be made to re-pay the costs of breast cancer incurred by society."

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