Ooh! Ooh! Well... it could be true! Look at the numbers this way and that way and twist them around and around and upside-down, and I just bet you could show that there are women who became acne-prone sometime in their lives after having an abortion. And women who didn't have an abortion who remained clear-skinned. Meaning (obviously): abortion causes acne! Well, close enough...You know where this is going. Fetus fetishists were all a-twitter with pee running down their legs yesterday at a new "Study" that supposedly shows *YAWN* abortion causes breast cancer. Yesterday it was on every wingnut site from here to Hucktooee -- but strangely, not reported on a single medical website. Apart from lifesite and its clones, and some pretendy-ish medical-ish-looking anti-choice cover sites, not a word anywhere about this Breakthrough Study. Butbutbut -- why?
Well, it could be because it's a "retrospective study" -- largely considered meaningless because the stats are gleaned from elsewhere and "re-interpreted", in this case by Patrick Carroll of something called "PAPRI". No, that's not Doctor Patrick Carroll, just plain old Patrick Carroll, a statistician; PAPRI is the "Pension & Population Research Institute", and Mr. Carroll appears to be the lone employee. From what I can gather, PAPRI does studies and tries to sell them to interested parties. Could it be that PAPRI thought the fetus fetishists might be a good touch for a few bucks if they cooked up a little study showing their holy grail, an abortion-breast cancer link? Could it be that the study is OLD and recycled? Could it be that the study was funded by an anti-choice group and is therefore all bullshit?
Carroll published a previous study trying to establish an abortion-breast cancer link in 2001. A CNSNews.com article stated that it was "commissioned by a British pro-life group." the British group Life. That appears to be this group; it argues against abortion even in cases of rape and fetal deformity. That's a red flag; a "pro-life group" would only be interested in funding research that attacks abortion, which makes the results suspect. Indeed, in his new study, Carroll states: "Particular thanks are due to the charities LIFE and The Medical Education Trust, which funded the research." The Medical Education Trust appears to be another British anti-abortion group; it lists among its publications "Induced Abortion: Hazards to Health and Future Motherhood." WND does not mention that "pro-life" groups funded Carroll's research.And so, another so-called "study" bites the dust. You have to wonder how badly they want to punish us, that they keep flogging this particular dead horse. It's creepy, really.
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