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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2522 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

I do not believe we can ignore these figures any longer. I do not believe women in Canberra should be allowed to have abortions without being told these facts. This meta-analysis is about three years old now. There was a publication called Abortion and Other Pregnancy-related Risk Factors in Female Breast Cancer, printed in London in December 2001 which says, briefly, that the incidence of breast cancer has risen in the epoch, considered in parallel with the rising abortion rates and that there is no doubt that there is a causal relationship. The figures in this publication look at Great Britain, Scotland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Finland. It finds that there is a consistent causal relationship between breast cancer and abortion.

On the subject of breast cancer and abortion, Dr Janet Daling, who is a pro-choice US-based epidemiologist, did a landmark study linking abortion with breast cancer. She found that women under 18 who had an abortion after more than eight weeks gestation had eight times the risk of developing breast cancer by the age of 45.

If you look at the figures published in this Assembly every quarter, you will see that women under 18 are the largest single group, by proportion of population, who avail themselves of the services of abortion clinics in the ACT. We are not telling them. We should at least give them the information that, if they do this, they will increase their risk of becoming victims of breast cancer by the age of 45, which is a fairly early onset for this disease.

I will read what Dr Daling says. This is really telling, because it is not an anti-abortionist pedalling this story-this is a woman who, despite the information, continues to be pro-choice:

If politics get involved in science it will really hold back the progress that we make. I have three sisters with breast cancer and I resent people messing with the scientific data to further their own agenda, be they pro-choice or pro-life. I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion ...

I will repeat that:

I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion

She continues:

...but our research is rock solid, and our data is accurate. It's not a matter of believing, it's a matter of what is.

Turning to Ms Gallagher's bill, I note that Mr Berry has put forward his legislation and is content to grandstand on the big picture and leave the tidying-up and housekeeping details to Ms Gallagher.

I know the ALP has abolished sex roles, so I must attribute this to his personality, rather than the fact that he is a mere male. As Ms Gallagher makes some attempt in her amendments to recognise the role of individual consciences, I suppose that has to be applauded. It will be interesting to see, given Ms Gallagher's bill and the circulated amendments, whether today, in exercising our conscience, we will attempt to constrain the consciences of others.

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