Abortion raises breast cancer risk: Qld MP

A Queensland MP has told parliament abortion increases the risk of breast cancer.

Freya Ostapovitch made her speech on Tuesday morning as political journalists were at a budget lock-up media conference with Treasurer Tim Nicholls.

The Liberal National Party member cited Chinese researcher Dr Yubei Huang, who last year released a controversial paper arguing that induced abortions raised the risk of breast cancer by 44 per cent.

"The more induced abortions a woman had, the greater her risk of breast cancer," the 58-year-old MP from southern Brisbane told parliament.

"Another six studies have emerged from India and Bangladesh, confirming that induced abortion increases breast cancer risk.

"Why are women not informed of these basic facts so that they can avoid induced abortions and thus lower their risk of breast cancer, the major cause of death other than road accidents for pre-menopausal women and the third major cause of death for post-menopausal women?"

Ms Ostapovitch, a first-term MP, was previously a psychiatric nurse.

She said she hoped her speech would raise awareness of "some real ways a woman can prevent contracting breast cancer".

Ms Ostapovitch said the medical and scientific communities agreed that full-term pregnancies lowered a woman's risk of getting breast cancer.