Cancer link used to sell `informed consent' abortion bill

Saturday, 29 January 2000

http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/0129R11.html

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

HB 2308 would require that the following information be provided to women considering abortions:
* Agencies that offer alternatives.
* Availability of medical assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care.
* The liability of the father to assist in support even if he offers to pay for an abortion.
* Pictures or drawings representing the fetus at various stages of development.
* Descriptions of the methods used for abortion and the risks of each, including ``possible detrimental psychological effects.''
* Medical risks ``commonly associated with carrying a child to term.''- Capitol Media Services
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services

PHOENIX - Abortion foes unveiled a new tactic yesterday in their latest bid to restrict the procedure: linking it with breast cancer.
Joel Brind, a professor and founder of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, told lawmakers that women who abort a pregnancy are more likely to develop tumors than those who give birth.
He said the last weeks of pregnancy - when breast tissue changes to begin producing milk - appear to make a difference.
Brind was brought to the House Committee on Government Reform by Rep. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, to testify in support of her ``informed consent'' legislation.
The committee's 4-1 vote sends the measure to the full House.
The bill would require a 24-hour waiting period before a woman could undergo an abortion.
It also specifies that the woman must be given certain information, ranging from pictures of what her fetus might look like to an explanation that the father is liable for child support even if he offered to pay for an abortion.
Information about breast cancer risks also would have to be presented, Brind said.
Johnson hopes the studies Brind cited finally persuade colleagues to adopt her plan. Lawmakers have killed prior efforts by her and others for more than a decade.
``Women have a right to be informed about these risks ofabortion,'' Johnson said.
She acknowledged that she would prefer to outlaw abortion entirely. But she has to settle for this bill because it is politically and constitutionally impossible at this point to do more, she said.
Brind walked lawmakers through a series of studies, most of which he said show a direct link between abortion and a higher incidence of breast cancer.
``The breast cancer claim is spurious,'' countered Marjorie Mead, a Sun City great-grandmother lobbying on behalf of the National Organization for Women.
``It's another red herring and another attempt to diminish the women's right to choose in our state.''
Mead noted that no other law - and nothing in this bill - requires similar waiting periods or detailed disclosure for other procedures.
She wondered if men should be required to wait 24 hours before a vasectomy or face a similar waiting period before buying Viagra.
``Are women so flighty or incapable of logical decision-making that they would reach a decision to abort without fully considering all of the ramifications?'' she asked.
Brind said that from a medical standpoint, patients should be told the risks of all procedures. In fact, he said, a doctor who does not fully inform a patient can be disciplined by state medical boards.
He said, though, that courts ``have put abortion into a special category,'' immunizing doctors who don't provide the kind of detail he said is necessary.
Brind acknowledged that other factors can increase a woman's chance of getting breast cancer, including celibacy.
But he said the government should not tell women that not having sex can be hazardous to their health, because - unlike in abortion - no medical procedure is involved.

 

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