To Scan or not to Scan

I'm linking to this new article on The Slate by William Saletan talking about ultrasounds, birth defects and abortion. In the article, he discusses the conundrum facing pro-lifers regarding the increasing sophistication of ultrasound technology. Pro-lifers, particularly through their sham Crisis Pregnancy Centers, have long championed the ultrasound based on the presumption that a woman who sees the fetus on a screen will be less likely to terminate the pregnancy. However, ultrasounds also have the potential to reveal possible birth defects which might lead a woman who wanted to bring the pregnancy to term to consider abortion. Pro-lifers say they want the pregnant woman to have all the information. Does that include information that the child might be born with a fatal condition that would result in a short, painful life?

Moreover, the "improvement" in ultrasound technology has resulted in many more false alarms and false positives that can scare the wits out of expecting mothers. My sister's first ultrasound revealed a cyst in the fetus's brain that was "indicative" of a certain birth defect. After a week of panic (she had already had one miscarriage), the second ultrasound showed that the cyst had disappeared. It is possible that these scans are now showing normal development processes that earlier scans did not.

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Sarah Palin: the anti-intellectual boor

Can I just say how tired I am of her? The more we learn the more frightening she is. Recently she criticized government funding for fruit fly research as wasteful and went on to comment that some fruit fly research actually takes place in Paris, France. If she took a moment to read a paper or ask someone with some knowledge on the issue, she would learn that the study of fruit flies had led to important advancement in the study of genetic disorders and defects, including those that have impacted her own family. Of course, when you don't believe in science or evolution I suppose the study of DNA sounds like a bunch of elitist, liberal, Parisian mumbo jumbo, gosh darn it.

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Deconstructing Elaine

Planet Jackson Hole, Oct 8, 2008.

"Interruption during the first trimester of a first pregnancy causes a cessation of cell differentiation..."
Well, yeah.
If a pregnancy ends, the body will respond accordingly and stop performing functions that go with pregnancy, such as changes in breast tissue, whether the interruption is spontaneous or induced.

"...which may result in a subsequent increase in the risk of cancerous growth in these tissues."
Hmm. Really? I see the word "may" there as well as no quantification of the amount of risk.
According to Elaine's ad, this was found on the Planned Parenthood website on Sept. 5 1997. A quick search of PubMed finds some interesting results. Several articles concerning a link between abortion and breast cancer came out in the late 90s, a majority of which reported a link.
5 or so years later, a new round of articles came out, pointing out biases in previous papers and/or correcting poor experimental design. It is tricky to ensure that you don't bias your results, and multiple areas of concern must be addressed (are you comparing spontaneous abortions to induced abortions? women who have birthed to those that haven't? were these first pregnancies and abortions or were there completed pregnancies before the abortion? etc.)
I was intrigued to find that political bias is allowed to shine through your "journal." I hadn't encountered it so directly before, but my previous searches on this website were for work and didn't address this issue or similarly political issues. There's a pro-life journal (I see you and your bias, Issues in Law and Medicine) that regularly publishes papers and submits them to PubMed. Hope my taxes aren't funding that research!
Anyway, the latest papers (2007, 2008) seem to still have some mixed results on this issue. Those that found a strong link usually have authors that always find a strong link but most papers conclude there is very little to no increased risk of breast cancer linked to abortion.