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National Academies of Science: Abortion Linked to Subsequent Premature Birth

Link Supports Abortion as Risk Factor for Breast Cancer

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A preliminary report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an organization of the National Academies of Science, lists "first trimester abortion" among the risk factors for premature birth. Premature birth is associated with cerebral palsy for the child and breast cancer for the mother.

The report, entitled "Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention"  could have huge public policy implications. The IOM reported that premature births before 37 weeks gestation represent 12.5 percent of all U.S. births, a 30% increase since 1981. Abortion became legally accessible in 1973. The IOM said premature birth cost U.S. society $26.2 billion in 2005.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, an abortion enthusiast, and other Democrats from the House Government Reform Committee issued a report attacking crisis pregnancy centers for informing women about the risks of abortion, including breast cancer, infertility and emotional harm.

The IOM's findings, however, provide further support for an abortion-breast cancer link. If, after having had an abortion, a childless woman is unable to carry subsequent pregnancies, then she could remain childless for the remainder of her life. Cancer organizations say childlessness (nulliparity) is a risk factor for breast cancer.

Other research shows that a premature birth before 32 weeks gestation increases the mother's breast cancer risk. The biological reasons for this are the same as for the abortion-cancer link.

Breast tissue is only matured from cancer-susceptible tissue into cancer resistant tissue during the last eight weeks of a full-term pregnancy. During this time, women receive protection from estrogen overexposure experienced during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

The World Health Organization provided additional support for an abortion-cancer link last year when it identified combined (estrogen plus progestin) oral contraceptives (OCs) and combined hormone replacement therapy as "Group 1 carcinogens."

Abortion has a disparate impact on adolescents. Using OCs and/or having an abortion before the birth of a first child are especially carcinogenic. Teenagers who have abortions have a greater risk for subsequent premature births than do adults because of the higher risk of infection and weakened cervix.

At least sixty significant studies published since 1963 report an abortion-premature birth link.

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