Susan G. Komen for the Cure is not a terrorist, political, or radical entity…
…And I praise the work they’ve done in raising awareness, detection, and treatment of breast cancer. However, I do feel SGK has been foolish in its recent mishandling of one of its multi-year relationships, pulling future funds from Planned Parenthood, which provides mammograms, breast cancer screenings, and breast cancer education to women who would otherwise likely not have access to these life saving and strengthening tools.
The funding that SGK pulled from PP accounts for less than 1% of the money that the organization puts towards its very noble and very important causes. As a supporter of both of these organizations throughout my life, I was quite pleased with this comment from SGK CEO Nancy G. Brinker, in which she explains her group’s rationale for pulling funding from Planned Parenthood. She says that the group did’t pull its funding for political purposes, rather, because PP didn’t provide all of the measures that SGK sees fit for detecting and treating breast cancer, and because Planned Parenthood is under investigation for its use of federal funds. In other words, they didn’t feel their dollars were being put to the best possible use, and their longstanding bylines prohibit them from accepting funds from potentially unlawful sources. As a businessperson, I can understand and appreciate that sentiment, but I don’t know that I buy that SGK’s shift in support was not due to years of pressure from anti-choice groups.
Regardless of the self-reported rationale (or the diminutive amount) of the retracted funds, I think I’m most upset with SGK’s public disgracing of an organization that shares its same goals and interests - the health of women. By retracting its support of a group that does truly important, albeit controversial, work, SGK has used its clout and image to tarnish that of Planned Parenthood. I hope that SGK will make the right choice for women, for health, and that the American public will not be swayed by the Komen foundation’s attack against Planned Parenthood.
