Bizarre, Politics, Society

Race For A [Political] Cure: Komen Cuts Off Funding For Planned Parenthood

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has previously been ridiculed for its bullying of other charities and its lawsuit against any charity using “for the cure” in its name or advertising. Now it is receiving criticism for cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates and preventive screening services. It is the first time the organization has cut off such funding based on a new rule involving organizations under investigation by Congress.


The House oversight and investigations subcommittee announced in the fall that it would investigate Planned Parenthood’s funding. The organization often becomes a hot button issue during election periods due to the abortion controversy.

Komen has been targeted in a campaign to defund Planned Parenthood. Last year, it hired a vice president who had previously advocated for the group’s defunding in her run for Georgia governor.

Source: Washington Post

168 thoughts on “Race For A [Political] Cure: Komen Cuts Off Funding For Planned Parenthood”

  1. Swarthmore mom, Yes. As I’ve said over and over again, good people and internet may be the combination that saves us in the end.

  4. Thanks, anon nurse. They wanted to take down Planned Parenthood like they did ACORN, and they wanted to do it quietly but because of the internet the plan did not work.

  5. I agree with both of your comments, Swarthmore mom. Well said. (Thanks again for the links that I might otherwise miss…)

  8. Although no one likes an ugly fight sometimes you just have to stand up to the GOP war on women. The battles were mean in the seventies and eighties. Some of us fought them. Younger women have taken their rights for granted. Hopefully, they have awakened and will fight those that want to take their rights away. I for one wish republican women would stand up to their party and the GOP platform and fight for reproductive freedom. Something good has come out of this. The light has been shone on all the behind the scene efforts to destroy Planned Parenthood. They will be stronger than ever.

  12. Said it before….will say it once again…When you have the fox watching the hen house what do you expect…. Partisanship Agenda’s are what is causing greater harm to this country than anything else….

    I guess that is why Jefferson drafted Madison’s words….If I recall correctly…

  14. From Cecil Richads Planned Parenthood email dated 2/3/12:

    “Over the last three days, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Breast Health Fund has received more than $3 million from thousands of people across the country. Every dollar we received for this fund will go directly to breast exams and diagnostic services, as well as breast health outreach and education so that more women can receive this critical care.

    Our first priority is to fill any gaps in service in the 19 communities where Komen Foundation grants support Planned Parenthood health centers’ breast care programs. The extraordinary generosity will also allow us to help expand Planned Parenthood breast health services nationwide far beyond what we ever thought possible. Planned Parenthood provides nearly 750,000 clinical breast exams each year at health centers across the country, but we know there are hundreds of thousands of women who need these services but still don’t have access to them. The Planned Parenthood Breast Health Fund will enable us to reach these women and ensure they have access to affordable, quality clinical breast exams.

    In short, this outpouring of public support will lead more women to detect breast cancer earlier, and will save more women’s lives. …”

    Please note the bold faced quote. My maternal Grandmoter, my Mother, my maternal Aunt, and one niece all died from breast cancer. I have never contributed one dime to Susan G. Komen for the Cure because I research all the charities to which I donate and never support those that spend more on administrative and advertising than they do on the actual charitable goal they profess to support. I have always donated directly to Planned Parenthood and would strongly urge others to do the same.

  15. EXCLUSIVE: Ari Fleischer Secretly Involved In Komen Strategy On Planned Parenthood
    By Judd Legum on Feb 3, 2012
    http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/02/03/418797/exclusive-ari-fleischer-komen-planned-parenthood/

    Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush and prominent right-wing pundit, was secretly involved in the Komen Foundation’s strategy regarding Planned Parenthood. Fleischer personally interviewed candidates for the position of “Senior Vice President for Communications and External Relations” at Komen last December. According to a source with first-hand knowledge, Fleischer drilled prospective candidates during their interviews on how they would handle the controversy about Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood.

    Fleischer’s relationship with Komen and the Planned Parenthood controversy was previously undisclosed. He confirmed to ThinkProgress his recent role in filling a key communication position at Komen. Fleischer stressed, however, another communications firm (Ogilvy PR) was retained by Komen to deal with crisis communications over the last few days and he has not been involved.

    In November, Komen advertised for a top level communications position in Roll Call. Promising applicants received a call from Fleischer. The advertisement is no longer posted on the Roll Call website, but a portion is accessible via Google.

    According to a source, during at least one interview, Planned Parenthood was a major topic of conversation. Fleischer indicated that he had discussed the Planned Parenthood issue with Komen’s CEO, Nancy Brinker, and that she was at her wits end about how to proceed. Fleischer described himself as a longtime friend of Brinker.

    Fleischer confirmed to ThinkProgress that he would receive a fee from Komen when the search is complete. Fleischer did not specify the amount of his fee but said it would be “substantially below the normal placement fee charged by executive search companies” because “they’re a charity I believe in.”

    Fleischer’s high-level involvement with Komen further complicates its image as an apolitical cancer charity. Fleischer is a prominent partisan commentator and a longtime critic of Planned Parenthood. In his book, Taking Heat, Fleischer criticized Planned Parenthood as a partisan, ideological organization that receives undeserved positive coverage in the press. In 2001, Fleischer said that the Clinton administration verged too far to the left on family planning efforts because “if Planned Parenthood wanted it, the previous administration favored it.”

  17. Is Komen’s Planned Parenthood Reversal For Real?
    JILLIAN RAYFIELD FEBRUARY 3, 2012
    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/is-komens-reversal-a-real-reversal.php?ref=fpa

    Excerpt:
    Though Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced a reversal of its decision to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, the language of the statement suggests the foundation could still refuse to fund the women’s health care provider in the future.

    After a two-day hailstorm of criticism — during which Planned Parenthood raised $3 million, according to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America — Komen announced on Friday that it would abandon a plan to cut off grant funding for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood. “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” Komen said in a statement.

    “The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen,” the statement said. “We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.”

    The statement amounted to a pretty unequivocal reversal of the explanation for the cuts Komen had given earlier in the week. At first, Komen cited a policy to cut funding for any organization under investigation by federal, state or local authorities. Since Planned Parenthood is currently under congressional investigation by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Komen said, they decided to terminate the grants.

    This explanation didn’t hold much water. For one thing, as Mother Jones pointed out, Komen didn’t make any similar announcements about its $7.5 million in funding for cancer research at Penn State’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, seeing as Penn State is currently under federal investigation in connection with the alleged sexual abuse scandal by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

    For another, Karen Handel, Komen’s new senior vice president for public policy, is on the record as opposing Planned Parenthood, and ran for Governor of Georgia in 2010 as a Republican. This sparked a report in the Atlantic from sources within Komen that Handel was behind the decision, and that Komen was was looking for an excuse to cut off Planned Parenthood.

    In the latest statement, Komen said it would amend its policy so “that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political,” which excludes what Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Friday referred to as the “sham” investigation by Stearns.

    Despite this backtrack, one part of the statement still provides some uncertainty about the future relationship between Komen and Planned Parenthood. Though Komen said it won’t cut current grants to Planned Parenthood and will still preserve Planned Parenthood’s eligibility to apply for future grants, the statement does not say it will necessarily grant them.

    “We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities,” the statement said.

    And Komen board member John Raffaelli indicated to Greg Sargent of the Washington Post that nothing is certain about the future relationship. “It would be highly unfair to ask us to commit to any organization that doesn’t go through a grant process that shows that the money we raise is used to carry out our mission,” Raffaelli said. “We’re a humanitarian organization. We have a mission. Tell me you can help carry out our mission and we will sit down at the table.”

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