Legal Implications of a Link Between Abortion and Breast Cancer.

• Author: Schlafly, Andrew L.
• Position: Abstracts

10 J. AM. PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS 11 (Spring 2005).

There is a legal obligation of informed consent for any medical procedure. With the majority of studies showing that abortion increases breast cancer risk, and even the minority studies reinforcing the well-established principle that childbirth is protective against breast cancer, patients seeking abortion have an obvious right to this information. The patient who had an abortion and later develops breast cancer may have a valid claim against the provider. Already there have been at least two settlements in the United States in lawsuits brought for such failure to disclose an increased risk of breast cancer following abortion.

Failure to diagnose breast cancer has now become the most common mal-practice case. While only a small percentage of physicians perform abortions, most physicians will encounter a patient who has had an...