Three pro-life activists who have dedicated their careers to exposing the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) link will be honored with the National Pro-Life Recognition Award during the 21^st annual National Memorial for the Preborn and Their Mothers and Fathers on Jan. 22 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, Joel Brind, Ph.D., and Karen Malec will receive the award during the event, which is organized by the National Pro-Life Religious Council, the National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill, Faith and Action, Priests for Life and Gospel of Life Ministries. It will take place from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D St., NW (18th and D St), Washington, DC.

Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life and President of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, said: "Each year, this award is given to someone who has served the pro-life movement in an exemplary way. That certainly describes this year’s recipients. All three have worked tirelessly to save women who are being deceived about abortion and breast cancer. Thanks to this year’s award winners, lives are being saved.”

Dr. Lanfranchi has a private practice In New Jersey devoted exclusively to breast surgery. A 1975 graduate of Georgetown School of Medicine, she is a clinical assistant professor of surgery at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery. She is a member of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Wellness Community and on the Expert Advisory Panel for the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners.

Dr. Brind is a professor of biology and endocrinology at Baruch College of the City University of New York, where he has been teaching since 1986. He earned his B.S. from Yale University in 1971 and his Ph.D. from NY University in 1981. He has been researching the connection between abortion and breast cancer since 1982, and has written and lectured extensively on that connection.

In 1999, Dr. Lanfranchi and Dr. Brind were among the founders of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. Dr. Brind was aware of risk- reduction strategies not widely known to the public and health-care professionals, and Dr. Lanfranchi saw the incidence of breast cancer increasing in young women and wanted to reverse this trend.

 Mrs. Malec is the co-founder of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer and has served as president since 1999. She is the author of several papers published in scholarly journals that clearly show the link between abortion and breast cancer. She has addressed physician’s groups and state legislatures, addressed conferences in the United States and Europe and took part in a panel discussion at the United Nations Conference on the Rights of the Child in 2001.

All three honorees said the National Pro-Life Recognition Award, given during the nation’s premiere prayer service, will go a long way toward raising awareness that the single most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer is abortion.

"I want to thank the leadership of the National Pro-life Religious Council for the honor and for giving national attention to the fact that induced abortion increases a woman's risk for breast cancer,” said Dr. Lanfranchi. “Women have the right to know this information when giving informed consent.”

“The honor of being named one of the recipients of this year's National Pro-life Recognition Award came as a surprise, and I welcome it not so much as a personal recognition of service to the cause of life, as a recognition of the legitimacy and reality of the fact that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer later in life," Dr. Brind said. “This award, and the heightened visibility and credibility it engenders, will hopefully mark a new advance in public awareness of the ABC link and new opportunities to win over the public to the cause of life.”

Mrs. Malec thanked others who worked toward exposing the ABC link.

"I am honored to accept the award. I am grateful to the board of directors for the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer and many other individuals who volunteered their time, funds and talent so that women could learn the truth that induced abortion is a risk factor for breast cancer,” she said. “I am equally thankful for courageous medical and science professionals, including Professor Brind and Dr. Lanfranchi, who were willing to put their professional careers on the line in order to spare as many women as possible from having to endure the tremendous suffering that cancer causes. Together, we made strides in saving lives."

The National Memorial provides an opportunity for clergy from dozens of denominations and people of faith from across the country to gather in worship before heading to the March for Life. Catholics who like to attend Mass on the morning of the Roe v. Wade anniversary are invited to a special Mass at Constitution Hall at 7:30 a.m.

Tickets are not required for the Mass or the National Memorial, and the magnificent Constitution Hall can easily accommodate large groups.

For more information about the service, including a downloadable flier, visit www.NationalPrayerService.com