Komen Foundation fiasco links and discussion thread (updated)

by: desmoinesdem

Fri Feb 03, 2012 at 19:29:46 PM CST

I'm not in a position to "send a message," since I've never done the Race for the Cure or donated to the Komen foundation, as far as I can recall. Although breast cancer has affected my family, the pink ribbon marketing machine has always been a turnoff for me. I do contribute to Planned Parenthood, which supports cancer screenings along with other preventive health care for low-income women and men. If you don't like Planned Parenthood for whatever reason, there are small charities that help breast cancer patients, cover the cost of mammograms, or provide low-income women with transportation to and from doctor's appointments and breast cancer screenings.

Any comments about the controversy are welcome in this thread. Here are some links to get the conversation going.

For background: Kate Sheppard, Komen Kills Grants for Planned Parenthood Breast Cancer Screenings

Kate Sheppard with Adam Serwer: Komen's Planned Parenthood Decision: It Sure Seems Like It's About Abortion

Lynda Waddington: Thoughts on the Susan G. Komen Foundation decision

Patricia Calhoun: Komen Denver affiliate rejects ban on Planned Parenthood grants

Statement from Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker:

DALLAS - February 3, 2012 - 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.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation.  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.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women.  We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue.  We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics - anyone's politics.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work.  We ask for the public's understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.

Adam Serwer: What Does Komen's Latest Statement on Planned Parenthood Really Mean?

Reaction to Komen's February 3 statement from Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Meghan McCarthy: Planned Parenthood Raises $3 Million in Wake of Komen Funding Controversy

Breast cancer patient to Susan G. Komen Foundation: "You showed your ass. Now you can kiss mine."

Rabbi Fred Guttman: Is There a Jewish Angle to the Komen - Planned Parenthood Controversy?

Final note: talk about great timing. A documentary called "Pink Ribbons, Inc." opens today in Canada. It sounds like a film worth seeing:

Breast cancer has become the poster child of corporate cause-related marketing campaigns. Countless women and men walk, bike, climb and shop for the cure. Each year, millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does this money go and what does it actually achieve?

PINK RIBBONS, INC. is a feature documentary that shows how the devastating reality of breast cancer, which marketing experts have labeled a "dream cause," has been hijacked by a shiny, pink story of success.

The floor is yours, Bleeding Heartland readers.

UPDATE: Here are a couple more links.

Rebecca Traister and Joan Walsh: Susan G. Komen's priceless gift

Judd Legum: Ari Fleischer Secretly Involved In Komen Strategy On Planned Parenthood

SECOND UPDATE:  Richard Eskow points out,

An investigation has revealed that at least four other organizations have received Komen money while under Federal investigation, while others have been the subjects of recent investigations, and a lot of the money Komen hands out was provided by sponsors who were also being investigated.

THIRD UPDATE: I highly recommend this post by Laurence Lewis: The Komen Foundation's curious relationship with the science of cancer prevention. I did not realize that Komen discounts possible links between cancer and certain pesticides or compounds in plastics (such as BPA). That is outrageous.

MONDAY UPDATE: Public Policy Polling conducted a nationwide survey on this controversy for Daily Kos. Full results are here. Notable findings: a majority of men and women oppose the Komen foundation's decision to deny funding to Planned Parenthood. About a third of respondents said that decision makes them more likely to donate to Komen in the future, while nearly half said the decision makes them less likely to donate to Komen in the future. Only 24 percent said the decision makes them more likely to participate in the Race for the Cure, while 43 percent said they are less likely to participate. Komen is very lucky that they have eight months to repair some of the damage before their signature event in October. Komen CEO Nancy Brinker should have been fired last week, but it's hard to imagine the board firing the organization's founder (who is also Susan Komen's sister).