Ohio House Bill 200, introduced by Rep. Ron Hood of Ashville with support of 35 House Republicans, imposes up to a $1 million fine and 10 years imprisonment if physicians fail to counsel women seeking abortion on a number of points, including that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer (“GOP proposal adds hurdles to abortion,” Dispatch article, Friday). The results of many studies from the 1950s until the present time are mixed: Older studies show an increased risk, while more-recent studies show no increase or decreased risk of breast cancer related to abortion. These older studies were flawed, with the increased risk possibly due to factors other than abortion.
The strongest studies scientifically were ones in which a large group of women who didn’t have breast cancer were followed with annual questionnaires asking them about their health habits and medical procedures, including abortion. Over time some of these women developed breast cancer while others didn’t, and the results showed that there was no increase or possibly a decreased risk of breast cancer related to abortion.
Policymaking organizations such the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Cancer Society have concluded that abortion does not increase breast-cancer risk.
Irrespective of how one feels about the right to life versus a woman’s right to choose, the facts need to presented as accurately as possible based on thorough and thoughtful review of the medical literature.
- DR. CHARLES L. SHAPIRO
Director of Breast Medical Oncology and the Breast CancerResearch Program
Ohio State University’sWexner Medical Center