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December 8, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Ingesting hormonal contraception for 10 years increases the risk of breast cancer by 38 percent, according to a new study in The New England Journal of Medicine.

“This is the first study that had shown intrauterine devices with hormones having association with breast cancer in large numbers,” Dr. David Agus, a University of Southern California physician, explained on CBS News.

“With the lower dose of oral contraceptives, we thought there wouldn’t be as much of a risk as the higher dose but it turns out to be the same – about a 20 percent increase in breast cancer overall,” said Agus.

This study shows the risk increases by “nine percent if you’re on it for a year, and up to 38 percent if you’re on it for ten years or more,” he said.

The oncologist who founded breastcancer.org, Dr. Marisa Weiss, told the New York Times the study’s results show “a significant public health concern.”

The study, titled Contemporary Hormonal Contraception and the Risk of Breast Cancer, reveals that newer, lower-hormone dose forms of contraception still increase the risk of breast cancer.

The New York Times called this risk created by birth control “a small but significant increase.”

“While a link had been established between birth control pills and breast cancer years ago, this study is the first to examine the risks associated with current formulations of birth control pills and devices in a large population,” the New York Times wrote.

Pro-lifers have long maintained that hormonal contraception increases the risk of breast cancer. Other side effects of contraception include weight gain, blood clots, and depression.

This study examined Danish women who use contraception and compared them to those who don't. The country’s socialized healthcare system makes it easy for researchers to examine data like this.

The study showed that intrauterine devices that release hormones into a woman’s body also increase her risk for breast cancer.

Pro-life activist Africa Obianuju Ekeocha‏ tweeted that she hopes the Canadian government, which is conducting a “contraceptive dump” on Africa, is “ready to pay for cancer treatments for African women too.”

Another recent study out of Denmark showed taking hormonal contraception can triple the risk of suicide.