The Susan G. Komen Mess

by Rishika Reddy – University of Houston

Like many of you may already know, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation that started the famous pink ribbon campaign has recently been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a charity organization that has been known to be the most well established breast cancer organization collects donations and invests in breast cancer research, health screening services, treatment and public health education. Since 1982, the Komen foundation has helped thousands of women gain access to breast cancer services. The idea of helping low income women gain access to health services pushed the Komen foundation to partner with Planned Parenthood. Over the past five years, this partnership allowed low income women around the country to get clinical breast exams and referrals for mammograms. In order to fund such services, Planned Parenthood received about $680,000 last year from the Komen foundation.

 The partnership fell to controversy after the Komen foundation recently announced that they would no longer provide support to Planned Parenthood. According to Leslie Aun, the spokesperson for Komen said that the organization’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood was based on a new policy that blocked them from granting funds to organizations that are under investigation on the local, state and federal level. This decision sent off a firestorm of criticism from politicians to several women’s organizations around the country. About 26 senators signed a letter asking Brinker, the CEO of Komen to reconsider the decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Adding to the backlash that Komen was receiving, many individual donors pledged never to make a donation to Komen, but instead direct their donations to Planned Parenthood. Within the next day after Komen’s decision was made public, Planned Parenthood raised almost as much money it lost due to Komen’s decision. Within days Planned Parenthood managed to raise $3 million, including a $250,000 donation from New York City Mayor Bloomberg and a $100,000 donation from Livestrong.

As Komen’s decision was causing fury, Brinker the CEO of Komen went on a media tour granting interviews trying to revive the glorious image of the Komen foundation. Brinker’s damage control tour hurt the Komen foundation even more as her explanations for the decision to defund Planned Parenthood seemed to change from time to time. To top of the questions from Brinker’s media tour, Karen Handel, the Senior Vice President of Public Policy was raising even more questions. Appointed a year ago, Handel was responsible for leading advocacy efforts for the Komen foundation.

Handel being a former Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, ran on a pro-life or what some call an anti-choice platform. While campaigning for Governor of Georgia, Handel has been quoted to stop public funding for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood being the largest provider of abortions has been the target of many protests over the years. Handel like many other politicians has been pushed by anti-abortion groups to take a strong stance against Planned Parenthood. This of course brought many questions about the role Handel played in Komen’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Handel backed by the Komen foundation denied any role played in Komen’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood. As questions were being raised, within 3 days Komen decided to reverse its decision to defund Planned Parenthood. A statement was released by the Komen foundation that they will “continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants.” If that wasn’t enough, Handel officially resigned her position as the Senior Vice President of Public Policy denying she played any role in the decision to defund Planned Parenthood.

 This whole situation has caused a huge public relations nightmare for the Komen Foundation. Facebook along with many other internet sites has been filled with angry comments about Komen’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Many individuals have pledged to never donate or take part in other activities such the Race for the Cure walks. I fail to understand how the Komen foundation has been okay with partnering with a fast food chain such as KFC, but not Planned Parenthood. This brings us to the question of should a non-profit organization deny another organization funding on political grounds? Some people continue to say that Komen was just following guidelines, which I of course fail to see as a good reason. If Komen was really following guidelines to defund organizations that are under investigation, why did it not apply such guidelines to all other organizations that are under investigation? I for one see Komen’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood as purely a political decision. Whether one is pro-choice or pro-life, providing funding to help low income women gain access to clinical breast exams or mammograms should never be an issue.

Resources:

NPR: Komen Foundation Now Says It Will Continue Grants to Planned Parenthood

WSJ: Charity Does an About Face

Washington Post: Timeline of key events in Komen controversy

AP: Komen Exec Quits After Planned Parenthood Flap

Image www.washingtonpost.com