While many news reports create alarm among Pill users, a new Oxford University project involving more than 200 scientists and analyzing 54 studies concludes that women taking birth control pills do not face an increased risk of getting breast cancer.
Women face no increased risk of breast cancer ten or more years after stopping the Pill.
And while women currently on the Pill show a slight increase in breast cancer, this was probably a result of more frequent and thorough exams leading to early diagnosis, according to the project. Despite the Pill's safety record, scares about the Pill's risk have serious consequences. Because of the CSM alert, unwanted pregnancies and abortions increased. In Germany, approximately seven percent quit taking their oral contraceptives. Investigations in Finland show that in the last half of 1995, pill sales fell 14-18 percent.