The Cellar - Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood

The Cellar (http://cellar.org/index.php)

- Current Events (http://cellar.org/forumdisplay.php?f=4)

- - Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=26811)

Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...renthood-flap/

What do you think of The Komen Foundation's Decision to withdraw funding from Planned parenthood?

In a nutshell, as I understand it, The Susan G Komen foundation used to grant funds to Planned Parenthood who -in addition to their "planning parenthood" activities- offer breast screening and health examinatins to lower income young women. Many conservative/right thinkers have issues with Planned Parenthood from an anti-abortion and even anti-contraception POV

SGK say the grants were withdrawn because they have implemented stricter policies about granting money to organizations who are under investigation of any kind (as PP is), but the liberal/left/cynics say this is a just a smoke screened way to bow into pressure for the right and is all about anti-abortion politics.

What do you think? Does it affect you in anyway -are you a supporter of either organization and does this change how/who you will support in the future?

I didn't realize PP offered services outside of family planning. I also thought Komen was all about research into a cure rather than detection. But I guess that is part of finding a cure?

I don't support either of these particular organizations financially, so I guess I haven't really thought about either of them very closely before. But I am inclined to entertain the cynical view more favorably than SGK's official "stronger performance criteria for our grantees" line.

My view here

A tactical move by Komen's new anti-abortionist vice-president.
A strategic management error by the Komen foundation.
A fatal message to some women who rely on Planned Parenthood

I favor the cynical view too. I haven't looked too closely into it, but my understanding is that a Republican congressman started the investigation into Planned Parenthood. My belief is that his action was just to be a pain in the ass, and that there was no actual indication that PP was doing anything wrong. Just slimy politics, which is unfortunately part of the game. For Komen to use that politically motivated investigation as an excuse to cut off funds is a political move in my mind. So Komen gets moved from the pigeonhole in my mind of being a good charity to being a political organization. They join the NRA and others in that pigeonhole. I've contributed to people doing the Race for the Cure before, but I doubt I'll do that again.

Oh, and in the paper this morning, I saw that donations to Planned Parenthood were up and had mostly covered the shortage already. And that the leader of Komen claims that donations for Komen are up too. So maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity.

I also read that the person who made the decision to pull funding resigned today.

And it looks like someone hacked the Komen Foundation website yesterday, replacing a message about their latest upcoming marathon with the statement, "Help us run over poor women on our way to the bank."

I favor, vehemently, all of you who favor the cynical view.

"Keep your laws off my body."

Women who once supported and lauded the Komen Foundation are cutting up pink ribbons.

It's very sucky.

Ummm.... Maybe the person that resigned is not the same person who made the decision to cut funding to PP.

MSNBC
By DAVID CRARY
2/23/12

Top Komen official resigns in protest over grants cuts

Quote:

Meanwhile, a top official at Komen, Mollie Williams has resigned
in protest over the grant cutoff, according to a source.
Williams had been Komen's director of community health programs
had resigned in protest over the grant cutoff.

Williams, in an email, said she could not comment on her departure for reasons
of professional confidentiality, but she was clear about her views.

"I have dedicated my career to fighting for the rights of the marginalized and underserved,"
she wrote. "And I believe it would be a mistake for any organization to bow to political pressure and compromise its mission."

Also, it is being reported on TV right now that Komen is reversing the decision,
and will re-instate funding to PP.

This is a very good tactical and strategic management decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt (Post 792719)

The pro-life base can be very passionate about their views and I'm sure they are much more willing to support Komen because of this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Also, it is being reported on TV right now that Komen is reversing the decision,
and will re-instate funding to PP.

This is a very good tactical and strategic management decision.

Yes and no. They saw a very strong increase in donations since they decided to cut funding to PP. On the other hand, they completely polarized their potential donators. Depends on which way you look at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lamplighter (Post 792730)

Also, it is being reported on TV right now that Komen is reversing the decision,
and will re-instate funding to PP.

If that's true, that's bad too. As a liberal, I'm still pissed at Komen, and the conservatives who might not have known about their PP contributions in the past (I myself had no idea) are going to be pissed at them now too at this reversal. Instead of pissing off half the country, they will equally piss off everyone. Not a good way to raise donations.

Whoever is behind this should never be in a position of power in a large organization again. What a clusterfuck for Komen. They will no longer be relevant.

I wonder if they did any good anyway. They raised a lot of money over the years, but are we any closer to a cure? And where did all that money go? Maybe Komen should be investigated.

Quote:

Read the statement from Nancy Brinker and the Susan G. Komen Board of Directors below.

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.

Read more: http://thepage.time.com/2012/02/03/k...#ixzz1lL2yCUZU

Bold mine.

Although the phrase "criminal and conclusive and not political" seems pretty objective, but I doubt they'll ever erase the stain of politics. They made a serious move, and it turned out to be a mistake.

It does look like the funding will be restored, though the part about letting the local affiliates make funding decisions seems... fraught.

I was astounded when I heard about this. I'm a PP supporter, not only because I am pro-choice, but because they offer healthcare services to poor women. To take funding away from them for breast cancer screening is inexcusable.

Komen has become a right-wing fog shop and I wont participate. My money will go to other cancer fighting organizations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt (Post 792736)

I wonder if they did any good anyway. They raised a lot of money over the years, but are we any closer to a cure? And where did all that money go? Maybe Komen should be investigated.

Salon has an article about that. And there is a documentary coming out too...

Rule of thumb: if a charity event is established for "awareness" it means they aren't serious.

In my opinion, it's too late for Komen to pacify those who have withdrawn support. According to friends on FB, although Komen denied doing so, they were definitely scrubbing their page clean of negative comments. I would seriously doubt that their donations were, in fact, up, since this debacle began. If they were, I'd tend to think they were one-time or first timers and the withdrawal of support has yet to be measured fully.

I won't be participating in their races....ever.

From Clod's link to Salon's article above

Quote:

And what of Komen’s latest, most potentially damaging stunt with Planned Parenthood?
Komen says the move is just about “newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations
that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities.”

You know what else is pretty “new” around Komen?
Its senior vice president of public policy, Karen Handel.
During the Sarah Palin-endorsed, Tea Party favorite’s 2010 campaign
for governor of Georgia, Handel declared,
“I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood,”
making clear that she “strongly supports” laws prohibiting
“the use of taxpayer funds for abortions or abortion-related services.”
She did, however, emphasize that she “strongly support(s)
the noble work of crisis-pregnancy centers.”

If you were one of the world’s biggest charities and were looking to hire someone
who had women’s welfare as her greatest imperative, would you go for someone
who’d send them to a place that offers breast cancer screenings
– as well as ovarian cancer screenings and HPV tests?
Or someone who prefers a bunch of right-to-life fanatics pretending to be a medical facility?
If you picked the former, you’re smarter than Komen for the Cure.

Hey, I don't mind being mistaken for Clod, it's a compliment.