Angela Lanfranchi is an anti-abortion activist and cofounder
of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. She is currently one of the most
vocal defenders on the utterly discredited idea,
based on ridiculous junk science,
that there is a link between abortion and breast cancer – a central tenet of
her institute – and probably the most important defender of that particularly
who actually should have some formal competence in the field and who actually
takes care of breast cancer patients for a living (she is not a scientist,
though). Lanfranchi has herself published arguments in favor of such a link in
the pseudojournal JPANDS,
the house journal of the deranged conspiracy theory group The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons,
which should relieve her of all assumptions of minimal credibility with regard
to the issue. She is nevertheless somewhat influential,
insofar as many of those unable or unwilling to look at the science are
attracted to her conclusions for political reasons.
According to Lanfranchi, “[i]t amounts to child abuse to take a teenager in a crisis pregnancy
for an abortion. At best, it will give her a 30% risk of breast cancer in her
lifetime. At worst, if she also has a family history of breast cancer, it will
nearly guarantee this.” The numbers are effectively PIDOOMA (discussed in detail here).
Then she appeals to the Semmelweis gambit and asserts that doctors don’t dare tell you this because they’re afraid of
their reputations, which they honestly should be if they said this since the claim has been
completely debunked.
Conclusion: Crank who shamelessly pushes pseudoscience for
ideological reasons. As such, she also has a certain influence among those who,
for non-evidence-based reasons, agree with her conclusions. Sad.
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