Abortion Won't Raise Breast Cancer Risk

An analysis of existing data from more than a dozen different countries has found that women who have had an abortion are not at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. "Pregnancies that end in induced abortion do not increase the risk of developing breast cancer," says Sir Richard Peto, a professor of medical statistics at the University of Oxford and one of the authors of the study appearing in the March 27 issue of The Lancet. "That really has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. There is no increase in the subsequent risk of developing breast cancer. We've got very good evidence of safety in that respect. It is a definite answer to this particular question."