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Health & Fitness

"Abortion Causes Breast Cancer"

GOP bill would require doctors to tell their patients that abortion is cancerous

The latest volley in the Republican War on Women was fired in New Hampshire on Wednesday when the Tea Party controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that will require physicians to inform their patients that abortion is a cause of breast cancer. That’s right the very people who rail about “intrusive Big Government” now want to interfere with your relationship with your doctor and force him to lie to you.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Jeanine Notter (R-Merrimack) would mandate a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion and require doctors to tell women that abortion causes breast cancer.

The Act was immediately condemned by Democratic leaders, who said it would require false information to be spread by doctors to patients. There is no proven breast cancer link to abortion, according to the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society.

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In an interview last month with Merrimack Patch, Notter said she understood that abortion would cause spaces in breast duct tissue to allow for the growth of cancer cells. She said she believed birth control pills lead to the same issue. Notter last month also said that she believed that birth control pills taken by women cause prostrate cancer in their male children.

Among the provisions in the bill is  a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is administered, with doctors providing information to the woman during this period. In addition to the breast cancer link, the information includes a series of fetal pictures taken at two-week intervals, a list of agencies that assist women during pregnancy and childbirth, a 24-hour state hotline number, material on paternal support obligations, a presentation on the possible medical side effects and a state website for information.

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A woman would be required to fill out and sign a checklist saying she has reviewed the information.

New Hampshire Democrats have attacked the bill, which would need Senate approval before heading to Gov. John Lynch (D).

"When House Republicans are not focused on repealing contraception coverage or defunding basic preventive health care services for thousands of New Hampshire women, they are spending their time legislating that women be given misinformation when exercising their right to have an abortion," House Minority Leader Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) said in a statement.

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