Get Rid of Abortion or Not?

An induced abortion is the act of purposefully terminating an unwanted pregnancy. There are correlations to suggest that the medical procedure increases the woman’s risk of breast cancer because of its impact on the body. The damage is escalated even further if the abortion is performed before the third trimester. Young women have breast lobules that can potentially cycle through four stages of growth. According to the National Cancer Institute (n.d), breast lobules are: “A small part of a lobe in the breast. A breast lobule is a gland that makes milk.” (“NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms”, para. 1). A young woman has stage one underdeveloped lobules before she hits puberty. As she enters into puberty, her lobules will gradually evolve into stage two as a result of fat and tissue buildup stored in her breast.

The lobules won’t go through any more development stages if she never becomes pregnant. They become more advanced during a pregnancy and act as a breast cancer shield with the help of the female hormones. In the article Information for the Adolescent Woman and Her Parents: Abortion and the Risk of Breast Cancer”, Anderson (2013/2017) says that “By 40 weeks, 85 percent of a female’s lobules are of the relatively more cancer-resistant, mature Type 4 lobules.” (p. 100). However, if a woman has an abortion before her third trimester begins, not all of her lobules have cycled through the four stages, which puts her at risk for breast cancer because some of the some of the first two types still remain in the breast.

Both abortions and breast cancer rates have gone up all over the world, which strengthens the apparent correlation. In the article “Abortion-Breast Cancer Link (ABC Link): Review of Recent Evidence from Asia”, Brind (2017) says that breast cancer was uncommon in South Asian women until the abortion rates went up. (p. 329). He cites a problem with multiple studies conducted with these women when abortions and miscarriages (also called spontaneous abortions) are put into the same category, saying: “Curiously, this seems to have led to actual cases of reporting bias—but in the direction of underestimating—rather than overestimating—the relative risk.” (p. 329). A miscarriage doesn’t have the same breast cancer risk factors that an induced abortion has because it occurs naturally rather than forcefully, so therefore it shouldn’t be included as an aspect of any studies on the possible effect that abortion has on breast cancer percentages.

Studies that conclude that there is a connection between abortion and breast cancer have been contested by other researchers due to the biases that they intentionally or unintentionally include, such as when spontaneous and induced abortions are lumped together, or when women with children (parous) and women without children (nulliparous) aren’t polled separately. When enough issues with previous cases abound, it becomes necessary to reexamine the supposed “results” to have the most accurate data possible about the connection between abortion and breast cancer. Deng, Xu and Zeng (2018) published “Induced abortion and breast cancer: An updated meta-analysis”, where they removed case studies with the problems mentioned earlier and instead focused on ones that didn’t have those biases. They stated that: “For nulliparous women, the nulliparity is the main risk factor of breast cancer and might dilute the effect of IA. Thus, in parous women, IA might contribute to the breast cancer, as significant risk factor.” (“Discussion”, para. 4). They established that there might be a link between abortion and breast cancer, but it wasn’t a definite conclusion, as other studies have positively inferred from their research.

Breast cancer is a pervasive disease that affects many women in all stages of life, no matter what their age or socioeconomic status is. However, several risk factors may aid in the cancer’s development, from the concentration of certain hormones in the body to whether or not a woman has an induced abortion. The arguments for or against these risk factors are compelling, but ultimately, scientists have only found correlations between them, not causations. While further research has yet to prove that all of these components inarguably lead to breast cancer, enough case studies show that they don’t prevent a diagnosis either. While some biological influences can’t be helped, lifestyle choices are under a woman’s control. A more in-depth education about breast cancer is necessary for women to take better care of themselves.

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