Abortion and Breast Cancer: Taking It to Court--and Winning.

It's a fact of life these days in the western world--and especially in the U.S.--that sooner or later, serious issues end up in court. After all, Roe v. Wade is not the name of a law, it's the name of a lawsuit.

Early this year, in Australia, new ground was broken in the courtroom regarding the abortion-breast cancer link (ABC link). In addition, there are ongoing cases in the United States which hold the promise that women may one day be told the truth that an induced abortion increases a woman's risk of breast cancer by 30% or more. Currently, abortionists in only four states are required to inform women of the possible ABC link.

The breakthrough happened in greater Melbourne, Australia, but it seems sure to be a harbinger of things to come on this side of the world. The unnamed post-abortive woman sued an abortionist for a botched, second-trimester abortion, with body parts expelled over a matter of days after the procedure, and severe psychological trauma.

The case was actually settled out of court, for undisclosed damages, last fall, so there was no precedent-setting court ruling or jury verdict announced. But what was precedent-setting was that the settlement was in part for failure to inform the patient about the ABC link. The plaintiff's claim, articulated by her attorney, Charles Francis, contained three key elements:

1) failure to warn the patient "that the termination of her pregnancy might increase the risk of her subsequently developing breast cancer,"

2) failure to warn the patient about the existence "of a body of medical opinion and/or surveys that suggested" an ABC link, and

3) failure to inform the patient of the breast cancer risk-lowering effect of carrying the pregnancy to term.