Said she was not told of increased breast cancer risk; Plaintiff Wins Suit Against Abortion Clinic.

In a decision of major significance, Multnomah County (Oregon) Judge Dale Koch has signed the first judgment ever against an abortionist for psychological injury and failure to inform a patient about the increased risk of breast cancer associated with having an induced abortion.

According to Oregon Right to Life, "It is the first lawsuit in the nation to obtain a judgment on informed consent grounds, alleging psychological trauma and increased risk of breast cancer resulting from an abortion."

The girl was 15 at the time of the May 2001 abortion, which took place at the All Women's Health Services in Portland, Oregon. Judge Koch signed a judgment January 24. The amount was kept confidential.

Jonathan Clark is the plaintiff's attorney. He told NRL News that the issue was never about money but about the informed consent obligations the clinic failed to meet.

"I hope it puts other abortion clinics on notice that they will be held accountable when they perform an abortion that is contraindicated," Clark said, alluding to the heightened risk of breast cancer and psychological complications. "This is not a 'pro-life' or 'pro-choice' decision, but pro-woman."

There is a considerable body of evidence demonstrating that an induced abortion increases the chances of breast cancer. For example in 1994, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Center found an overall 50% increased risk for breast cancer among women who had chosen abortion, but a 150% greater risk of breast cancer for girls younger than 18 who had abortions in the first trimester. (See NRL News, June 1994.)

Published in the prestigious Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the investigation revealed that the risks were even higher when there was a family history of breast cancer. Clark told NRL News that his client's mother and an aunt had had cancer and that she had lost "a dear grandmother" to breast cancer.