It didn’t take long for GOP congressional candidate Doug LaMalfa to revisit the latest research and determine that it doesn’t support his assertion—in a televised debate Monday—that abortion causes cancer.

LaMalfa, who is the odds-on favorite to succeed Republican Wally Herger in this traditionally safe GOP district in Northern California, made the claim while explaining his anti-abortion position at the Tea Party-sponsored event. Afterward, LaMalfa expanded on his remarks in a television interview and talked about why it was important that women have the facts.

“Research has shown there that there's higher level of incidence at risk so I would want women to be fully informed of all the aspects before making a decision like that. . . . I think that shows more care for women then by simply shuffling them off to an abortion mill and so that's a very important distinction that needs to be made.”

Unfortunately, there is no “current” research to support this and the next day he walked back his comments: “After last night's debate I checked the most recent research on the question of a link between abortion and cancer and found that current research does not support the conclusion that abortion causes cancer.”

LaMalfa said his recollection came from something he thought he had read years ago. There have been studies by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of the possibility of a link between abortion and breast cancer, but none of the research has found one.

LaMalfa, a rice farmer, resigned his state Senate seat on September 1 to run for the 1^st Congressional District. He is opposed by Democrat Jim Reed, a tax attorney.

The media spotlight was briefly on LaMalfa last week when Governor Jerry Brown explained before TV cameras how Republicans, even the big tough ones, quake when they hear the word “taxes.”  

Governor Brown: “I even talked to that fellow who just resigned, LaMalfa. I met him in the basement a week ago. And I said, hey, the biggest employer in your district is the timber industry. Can't you vote for this thing? He kind of got into a little fetal position and started shaking. He literally was shaking. He's this big man. He wears boots. He's kind of an outdoorsman, kind of a mountain man. And I saw him kind of literally shriveling in fear of, I guess it was the Flash Report or Grover Norquist or whoever the hell it was. But there is fear in the eyes of Republicans when the tax word is uttered in their presence.”

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

GOP Congressional Candidate Backs off Abortion-Cancer Link (by Torey Van Oot, Sacramento Bee)

LaMalfa, Reed Tussle in Tea Party Debate (by Jenny Espino, The Redding Record Searchlight)

Doug LaMalfa—Shriveling in Fear (by Bruce Ross, The Redding Record Searchlight)