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Victory! Komen Apologizes And Reverses Decision To Cut Planned Parenthood Funding
By Marie Diamond on Feb 3, 2012 at 11:46 am
The Dallas Morning News reports that Susan G. Komen For the Cure is reversing its decision to stop funding cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers.
Facing an avalanche of criticism for caving to pressure from anti-abortion activists, Komen founder Nancy Brinker issued the following statement:
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. The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. 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. [...]
We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair. [...]
Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. 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.
Since announcing on Tuesday that they would end their relationship with Planned Parenthood, which provides cancer screenings and mammogram referrals for low-income women, Komen has faced a revolt from allies in the health community and its own employees.
Two top Komen officials resigned in protest following the announcement. Local chapters of Komen also rebelled, pledging to defy the order and continue funding Planned Parenthood.
Furthermore, Komen discovered that if they applied their new policy evenly to all organizations that receive their grants, they would be forced to stop funding institutions including Penn State University, not just Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, has been overwhelmed with an outpouring of support from across the country. They raised enough money in just a few days — $650,000 — to nearly make up for the funds they lost from the Komen grant. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged to give $250,000 to Planned Parenthood
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise.
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Poll: Conservatives Oppose Planned Parenthood Cancer Screenings
By Alex Seitz-Wald on Feb 6, 2012 at 3:30 pm
After cheering for letting a young man die during a GOP debate, and wanting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, perhaps this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but a new Daily Kos/PPP poll finds that a majority of conservatives have an “unfavorable” view of breast cancer screening services performed by Planned Parenthood. Just 25 percent have a positive view, compared to 51 percent with a negative one. The poll, of course, comes in the wake of the Susan G. Komen foundation’s decision to stop funding screening services at Planned Parenthood, but the results call in question what it means to be “pro-life,” as many conservatives identify themselves.
The poll also showed that Komen’s brand took a big hit in the controversy. A majority of all Americans, 53 percent, opposed Komen’s decision, while just 38 percent supported it. 49 percent said it made them less likely to support Komen financially in the future.
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise.
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BREAKING: Anti-Choice Komen VP Karen Handel Resigns, Admits Role In Planned Parenthood Decision
By Marie Diamond on Feb 7, 2012 at 10:57 am
Karen Handel Today, Karen Handel, Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s controversial Senior Vice President of Public Policy, resigned in protest of the organization’s decision to consider reinstating funding for cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers.
Handel has been at the center of the firestorm surrounding the organization’s unpopular decision to sever ties with Planned Parenthood — a decision that was reversed just a few days later following a massive backlash from supporters and its own employees.
In her resignation letter, Handel openly acknowledges her integral role in formulating the policy designed to cut off Planned Parenthood funding. Just a few days ago, Komen founder and president Nancy Brinker claimed, “Let me just tell you for the record that Karen did not have anything to do with this decision.”
Handel does not specifically defend the rules she pushed through, but decries the charity’s decision to reverse course, arguing that the proper procedure was followed:
We can all agree that this is a challenging and deeply unsettling situation for all involved in the fight against breast cancer. However, Komen’s decision to change its granting strategy and exit the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and its grants was fully vetted by every appropriate level within the organization.
At the November Board meeting, the Board received a detailed review of the new model and related criteria. As you will recall, the Board specifically discussed various issues, including the need to protect our mission by ensuring we were not distracted or negatively affected by any other organization’s real or perceived challenges. No objections were made to moving forward.
I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve. However, the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen, and the controversy related to Planned Parenthood has long been a concern to the organization.
Neither the decision nor the changes themselves were based on anyone’s political beliefs or ideology. Rather, both were based on Komen’s mission and how to better serve women, as well as a realization of the need to distance Komen from controversy.
The idea that Komen wanted to stop funding cancer screenings for poor women to distance itself from controversy is particularly ironic, given that their decision accomplished just the opposite. The organization’s popularity has plummeted and they are already struggling to lure back donors.
Handel not only has a long anti-choice history, but pledged to eliminate grants for Planned Parenthood to provide breast and cervical cancer screenings when she ran for governor of Georgia in 2010.
In the letter, Handel declines any severance package, which will allow her to speak openly about her differences with Komen.
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise.
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