Little chance seen on measure calling for abortion warnings

Tuesday, April 10, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

A bill in the Assembly would require abortion providers to tell women about a controversial theory linking the procedure to an increase in breast cancer.

Studies seeking a direct relationship between abortion and breast cancer have been largely inconclusive, said Dr. Lynn Rosenberg, an epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Health. A study published in 1999 in the New England Journal of Medicine, using data from Danish health clinics, found induced abortions did not have an effect on breast cancer risks, Rosenberg said.

But even the slightest potential risk is enough for Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, the bill's sponsor, who also wants people to know about a study released in the United Kingdom in February that claimed women in Scotland, England and Wales who aborted their first pregnancies, then waited until later in life to have children, were more likely to get breast cancer.

"If we're really for informed choice for women, then they should have all the research made available to them," Angle said.

Angle sponsored similar legislation in 1999, but it died in the Health and Human Services Committee, which she sits on. She said she expects the same fate for the current version of the bill.

"Abortion is the hot potato," Angle said. "But I don't see this as a pro-life or pro-choice issue. It's a breast cancer issue."

Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, said Monday she has read the studies Angle cited and found them inconclusive. Freeman, a retired nurse and a fellow member of the Health and Human Services Committee, said she expects that Angle's bill won't be considered during hearings Monday, when the bill appears on the agenda.

"Abortion is such a divisive topic, and our schedule is crammed with more legitimate issues than the ones raised by this bill," Freeman said.

If the bill is not heard then, Angle will have to wait until the next legislative session to bring it up again.

Rosenberg, who has conducted studies of the potential link for the National Cancer Institute, said the report from researchers in the United Kingdom should be approached with caution. American studies have already shown that women who wait until later in life have a slightly greater chance of getting breast cancer, and it is doubtful that it has anything to do with whether they had abortions, Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg said many of the past studies into the issue were compromised because they were based solely on interviews with women after they were diagnosed with breast cancer. Women with the disease are more likely to speak openly with their doctors about sensitive issues such as abortion, Rosenberg said.

The Danish study is considered the most reliable because it was based solely on tracking women after they reported to a national registry that they had had abortions, she said.