The decision to defund Planned Parenthood by Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is especially hurtful to poor women, who have no health services other than Planned Parenthood. I am convinced that they are not being honest about their claimed reason, and that their real reason is to support the ongoing Republican vendetta against Planned Parenthood. I fully support aid for breast cancer screenings for women, and am happy to tell you that there is a way we can support breast cancer screenings for all women, but leave the Komen foundation to their political intrigues.
Tuesday’s news that Susan G. Komen for the Cure is ending funding it provided to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings has led to increased scrutiny of Komen’s staff, which—as I reported previously—includes a federal lobbyist who pledged to defund Planned Parenthood while campaigning for governor of Georgia.
Komen’s founder is pretty conservative, too. Komen CEO Nancy G. Brinker, who founded the foundation in memory of a sister who died from breast cancer, was the chief protocol officer for the United States from 2007 to 2009 under the George W. Bush administration, and before that served as his ambassador to Hungary.
Brinker is also a major Republican donor, and has given more than $175,000 to Republican candidates and the Republican National Committee since 1990, according to donor data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Her late husband, Norman Brinker, was the chairman of Brinker International Restaurants, which owns the chains Chili’s, Maggiano’s, and Macaroni Grill. Norman Brinker gave more than $440,000 to Republicans between 1990 and his death in 2009…
Inserted from <Mother Jones>
Komen’s supposed reason for this is that Planned Parenthood is under a Congressional investigation, and they do not fund organizations under investigation, they say. Well that investigation was called by one lone congressman, Cliff Stearns (R-FL). He has done nothing to follow it up. Furthermore, Penn State is involved in a serious criminal investigation, but Komen still funds Penn State’s Hershey Medical Center. That’s why I discount their claim.
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) criticized Komen on the House floor.
97% of what Planned Parenthood does has nothing whatsoever to do with abortion, but if you oppose abortion, the contraception that Planned Parenthood provides prevents dozens of abortions every day. I wanted to help. I spoke to Charles Nilme at the Columbia Willamette office of Planned Parenthood, here in Portland, and donated $20. That’s a tiny donation, but I’m quite poor. I asked Charles, if I could target that donation to breast cancer screening, and he told me that I could.
Therefore, we all can support breast cancer screening for women without contributing to Komen’s agenda that opposes women’s rights. We can donate to Planned Parenthood directly and tell them how we want it used. I did, and I hope you will too. You can donate online to Planned Parenthood, or get the telephone number of your local center there.
Rachel Maddow interviewed Congresswoman Diana DeGette on this topic. Let me leave you with their thoughts.
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28 Responses to “Support Women, Not Susan G. Komen”
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Just another in a long line of instances of overreach by the far right. Their pressure, resulting in the action taken by this foundation, will harm millions of poor women by adversely affecting Planned Parenthood. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater!
Isn’t it great that the progressive response from all over the web has made Planned Parenthood whole?
This is particularly disturbing, but not a surprise to me, since my wife died of breast cancer, and my daughter has received counseling through planned parenthood. I have maintained a direct support to planned parenthood and been suspicious of the “race for the cure” – knowing its conservative affiliations. Planned Parenthood is an enormous support for women’s health, including all aspects of the field of OBGYN – an invaluable help to the poor and in my case support as a single father of two, including a daughter – she was 8 when her mom died – and getting her through puberty, medical and contraceptive advice etc – this is an invaluable organization.
Thanks Lee. So sorry about your wife.
Obviously, this has been a major PR disaster for SGK (see my latest post). The fallout has been HUGE and I doubt that
SGK will ever fully recover. To add insult to injury, they’ve been lying out the yeng-yang. The monies raised by PPFA since this happened has already replaced what they would have received from Komen and the $250K in matching funds from Mayor Bloomberg has enormous benefits beyond just the money.
Your latest post is an excellent article. I recommend it to all.
Great article and comments. Thanks
Planned Parenthood has raised over $1 million since The announcement was made by the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Good for them! SGKF is partnered with Big Pharma besides their unscrupulous ties with former lobbyists.
Great news!
Take Action
http://front.moveon.org/make-it-go-viral-show-the-world-what-you-think-of-this-terrible-decision/
Thanks Mama. That’s ate same graphic I used.
The Bad News is that Komen’s avid embracing of radical right-wing prejudices is, quite literally, going to cost women their lives.
Those images say it all. Komen’s decision was a very poor one, and I’m convinced that it was idologically driven, given the right-leaning politics of some of its leaders. Those grant funds could have helped countless women. I for one will be donating to Planned Parenthood soon.
Normally I would oppose hacking their website, but apparantly no damage was done, and this mischief is thoroughly lucid!
If this doesn’t make the Republican agenda crystal clear ; I don’t know what else it will take ; I have never given to PP but I will now – We are on a fixed income but if everyone gave even $5 or$10 think how quickly that adds up . I have been involved in raising funds I know how much those “small ” donations are appreciated- — No donation is ever too small believe me–
I have had women I know die of breast cancer; I have also known women whose lives have been saved through diagnosis at Planned Parenthood : To take away this lifeline is a repulsive act by Komen and her people ; -btw– how often are they audited—isn’t it about time ?
Phyllis, you’re right. It added up to more than the Komen grants.
Pretty broke these days….. but I am sure I can spare $20 to go directly to PP. I always thought those stupid car magnet ribbons were dumb anyways.
Thank you Jimm
You can direct all or part of any Oregon tax refund to a variety of charitable causes, one of which is Planned Parenthood of Oregon. Check if your own state has any provision for this type of donation. It’s less painful if you’re on a low budget, but do have potential refunds coming from your state’s tax system.
This is similar to the reason I quit giving money to United Way a few years back. United Way supported Boy Scouts, which were anti-gay. Instead, I selected specific charities rather than give through an omnibus organization.
I’m sure that right-wingers refuse to donate to Planned Parenthood, so we liberals (yay to Lawrence O’Donnell’s reiteration of liberal as a positive word last night) can refuse to donated to anti-woman, anti-poor, anti-homosexual, anti-birth control, etc. so-called “charities.” Many are simply political tools of the right-wing.
Check the basics of an organization before handing over your hard-earned cash, no matter how sympathetically they portray their works. What is the organization’s skim for their executives? What percentage of donations actually go to the work they purport they do?
SGK has backed off today, but they maintain their farcical excuse for why they defunded PP. I hope PP will refuse funds from political organizations. SGK has proven itself to be yet another octopus tentacle of the Repub-Teas.
Marva, that’s excellent advice. I refuse to give to the United Way for the same reason.
Interesting to see that SGK has now assumed the crawfish attitude and is scuttling backwards in full damage-control mode. Obviously, they never expected a backlash of the magnitude they got. Considering the abysmally low percentage of their received funds that actually go towards cancer screening and research – I’ve heard several numbers, most of them somewhere around 20% – the six-figure compensation packages of their top executives, and their ties to the right wing political agenda, it’s far better to donate directly to Planned Parenthood and other responsible organizations. For SGK, or any other organization for that matter, to politicize a basic woman’s health issue is inexcusable.
John, I had no idea it was that low.
Defund phony ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’, not Planned Parenthood. Every unwanted pregnancy forced to term is another unwanted child turning into a delinquent on his/her way through youth and school and becoming a full blown criminal when he or she graduates from the ‘reformatory’. Contraception helps insure that children can be born into families ready to raise them and provide them with affection and proper childhood, education, and maturity. Contraception can also control or at least slow the spread of STDs. Planned Parenthood is legitimate and can implement the solutions to health problems and crises needed by low-income women; ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ are more a sham than old-style witch doctors and should be defunded! Put Komen in a coma and send your money to Planned Parenthood!
Fred, I’m pleased to see that here is an occasion that even you and I can agree. 🙂
In the US, the political right-wing has gone from anti-choice to anti-contraception to anti-women all, in what seems like a matter of months. Now the Susan G Komen Foundation is adding fuel to the fire by defunding their support for women’s health services at Planned Parenthood. But I think their fingers, at the very least, are getting singed from the firey backlash. And rightly so!
This is nothing more, in my opinion, than a political stand. What is their business? Is it advocating for women’s health and research? Or is it political advocacy for the right-wing? I’m sure that Susan G Komen, who died from breast cancer and for whom the foundation was named, would agree that a diagnosis, treatment and cure for breast cancer should know no political nor social boundaries. After all, the disease itself does not know any boundaries, none whatsoever — black/white, rich/poor, young/old. But how we are able to respond to the disease often does know boundaries. Planned Parenthood helps those who otherwise could not afford breast cancer screenings and treatment. Does it have other treatment areas? — yes. And those are equally valuable to those women who can not afford healthcare in the US. Planned Parenhood says that 3% of their budget goes to abortions and that the funding is from other sources. Not government funds, not Susan G Komen Foundation funds. Audit Planned Parenthood. Check it out. But also audit the Susan G Komen Foundation and see how their funds are meted out. What percentage of their funds go straight to their proclaimed advocacy? How much goes to administration? How much and where do their donations go?
I have run in the CIBC Run for the Cure here in Vancouver for a number of years. I thought I was doing the right thing, and for the most part, I think I was. But today in the Globe and Mail was the following story about the Susan G Komen Foundation and its tentative ties to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. I will not participate in this run again until this situation is cleared up. Here’s the link.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/breast-cancer-charity-pulls-funding-to-pro-choice-foundation/article2322353/
Another thing that disturbs me is on the Care2 Click to Donate site. By clicking on the breast cancer heading, there is a donation made to the Susan G Komen Foundation. I will not click there now until this disgraceful situation is solved. I would rather see my ‘click’ go to Planned Parenthood specifically to support women’s health initiatives. And all this is sad because women are being punished by a disease and by a over zealous right-wing foundation that says it’s for women’s breast health, but is it really?!? I hope Care2 will be able to rediesignate the ‘clicks’ to Planned Parenthood.
I live in Canada where my healthcare is looked after by affordable government prescribed health insurance. Breast screenings are free after the age of 50 every 2 years. For those who have a history of breast cancer in the family, they are free after 40, and in some cases before that.
Everybody, men and women, need to sit up and take notice. We could be talking about your mothers, your sisters, your wives, your daughters.
Great information, Lynn. At the Care2 site three or four people have posted links to petitions asking Care2 to change it, as replies to my article.
Saw that and signed everyone. Thanks
YVW! 🙂