[Apologetics] YES! Komen Kicks Planned Parenthood to the Curb

[Dianne Dawson]

New Komen Pro-Life VP Credited for Planned Parenthood Cuts
by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 1/31/12 7:57 PM
The decision by the Komen for the Cure breast cancer group to stop funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business is making huge waves today and a little known decision to hire a pro-life vice president may be responsible for it.
 
In 2010 Georgia Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel decided to run for governor to replace outgoing pro-life Governor Sonny Perdue, who was term limited, on a platform of defunding Planned Parenthood.
 
“I am staunchly and unequivocally pro-life. I believe in the sanctity and inherent dignity of human life, and I will be a pro-life governor who will work tirelessly to promote a culture of life in Georgia,” Handel said. “I believe that each and every unborn child has inherent dignity, that every abortion is a tragedy, and that government has a role, along with the faith community, in encouraging women to choose life in even the most difficult of circumstances…. since I am pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.”
Pressing for Planned Parenthood de-funding, Handel said, “During my time as Chairman of Fulton County, there were federal and state pass-through grants that were awarded to Planned Parenthood for breast and cervical cancer screening, as well as a ‘Healthy Babies Initiative’…Since grants like these are from the state I’ll eliminate them as your next Governor.”
 
Ironically, Georgia Right to Life refused to extend to Handel its endorsement — instead going with five of the other candidates seeking the nomination against her. Dan Becker, the Georgia Right to Life president who is a key leader in the personhood movement, told LifeNews at the time that “Handel proclaims herself pro-life; however, she does not meet the 21st century demands of being pro-life.”
Despite that, Handel received the endorsement of pro-life former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and some pro-life advocates criticized GRTL for its decision.
 
After her loss in the 2010 GOP primary, Handel moved on to other things and, eventually, in April 2011, was named Senior VP for Komen.
“In her role at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Handel will be responsible for leading the organization’s federal and state advocacy efforts, including management of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Advocacy Alliance. Handel has been working with Komen as a consultant for advocacy since January,” Komen said at the time.
 
The pro-abortion side definitely thinks Handel’s involvement has something to do with the decision.
 
“Komen’s new Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Karen 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,” complains ThinkProgress.
 
While Jezebel adds, “Karen Handel, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin during her unsuccessful bid for governor of Georgia in 2010, has been the Foundation’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy since April 2011. During her gubernatorial candidacy, she ran on an anti-choice platform, vowing that if elected, she’d defund Planned Parenthood.”
 
“How curious! A person with what looks like a personal vendetta against Planned Parenthood joins the ranks of an organization that provides funding to Planned Parenthood, and soon, that organization “defunds” Planned Parenthood,” it adds.
 
 
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 
YES! Komen Kicks Planned Parenthood to the Curb
We at Catholic Sistas are tickled pink that prominent breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure has decided to cut ties with Planned Parenthood, our nation’s largest abortion provider!
For years, faithful Catholics have boycotted Komen’s fundraising efforts for its unconscionable relationship with Planned Parenthood, which received $650,000 from Komen in 2011. And if Planned Parenthood’s complicity in the deaths of millions of unborn children were not bad enough, the link between it and Komen was especially galling given the copious research showing that abortion dramatically increases a woman’s chances of breast cancer.
For Catholic breast cancer survivors especially, Komen’s support of Planned Parenthood often left them feeling marginalized. “I’ve always felt cheated because I couldn’t morally participate in ‘pink’ events,” says Birgit, one of our contributors who is a seven-year breast cancer survivor. She hated having to inform well-meaning friends who wanted to honor her family by raising money for Komen that she couldn’t accept due to the charity’s relationship with an abortion provider. “Understandably, they felt chastised for doing a good deed,” she says.
Komen’s support of Planned Parenthood also was troubling for Erika, another of our contributors who is a three-year breast cancer survivor diagnosed at 20 weeks pregnant. She shared her story recently with our readers, including the pressure she resisted to abort her now two-year-old daughter. “Prolife Catholics have always loved women enough to support them and their unborn children during crisis pregnancies,” Erika says.
Though most pregnant women diagnosed with breast cancer are encouraged to abort, Erika found that research shows instead that women who elect to continue their pregnancies actually have a better survival rate than their counterparts who abort. Her experiences inspired Erika to develop Catholic Sistas’ own unique ribbon (see below) to support breast cancer awareness and research, which reflects the Catholic belief that both mother and child deserve to be protected from the disease.
Planned Parenthood has long tried to deflect criticism for receiving money from Komen by claiming their grants go to provide breast health services, including mammograms. That the abortion provider does not, in fact, provide mammograms at all was confirmed last year by Live Action, a prolife group based in San Jose, Calif. Live Action members contacted 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in 27 states and discovered that not one provided mammograms and that few even provide basic breast cancer screening. (Interestingly enough, Planned Parenthood’s own Annual Reports have shown that breast exams have actually decreased at the organization since it began receiving money from Komen.)
For Catholics, the mood seems to be one of cautious optimism. Though Erika and Birgit are pleased Komen finally severed ties with the notorious abortion provider, Komen’s murky stances on other issues, such as embryonic stem cell research and oral contraceptives, remain problematic for Catholics. Erika is concerned that Komen may end up refunding Planned Parenthood in the future, since Komen claims it was “more stringent donor requirements” and not pressure from prolifers that caused it to stop funding the abortion provider. Komen’s new donor requirements do not allow the charity to fund any organization under investigation and Planned Parenthood is currently being investigated for using federal money to fund abortions. Komen could reissue grants to Planned Parenthood if nothing comes of the investigation.
Only time will tell whether this rift between Komen and Planned Parenthood is a permanent one. In the meantime, however, we applaud Susan G. Komen for the Cure for its decision to retain the hard-earned money of its supporters for organizations that truly do work to fight the scourge of breast cancer.



Denver's Komen To Continue Grants To Planned Parenthood
Denver Affiliate Of Susan G. Komen For The Cure Gets Exemption Til March 2012
Deb Stanley, 7NEWS Producer
POSTED: 11:15 am MST February 1, 2012
UPDATED: 11:42 am MST February 1, 2012
DENVER -- While the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country, the Denver affiliate of the group is not.
Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun said the national cutoff comes from the charity's newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. According to Komen, this applies to Planned Parenthood because it's the focus of an inquiry launched by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., seeking to determine whether public money was improperly spent on abortions.
Planned Parenthood says the move comes from Komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists.
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Planned Parenthood said the Komen grants totaled roughly $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before. The money helped pay for breast-cancer screening and other breast-health services at Planned Parenthood.
Denver Affiliate Granted Exemption
On Wednesday, the Denver affiliate of Susan G. Koman for the Cure released a statement on Facebook that said it has been granted an exception.
The Denver affiliate said it plans to fund Planned Parenthood for the grant cycle of April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013, pending the grant review committee and board of directors' approval of their grant application.
"The affiliate closely monitors all grantees to guarantee the awarded funds are used as intended and NOT used outside the scope of our promise to end breast cancer," the statement on Facebook said. "The monitoring includes 6-month, 9-month and final reports; site visit; and quarterly coalition meetings."
In 2010, the Denver affiliate grant to Planned Parenthood provided breast health/cancer education to 2,264 women, 601 clinical breast examinations and referred and paid for 57 mammograms, officials said.
Komen said 125 of those women were referred for additional diagnostics.
Planned Parenthood has been a perennial target of protests, boycotts and funding cutoffs because of its role as the largest provider of abortions in the United States. Its nearly 800 health centers nationwide provide an array of other services, including birth control, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and cancer screening.
According to Planned Parenthood, its centers performed more than 4 million breast exams over the past five years, including nearly 170,000 as a result of Komen grants.
Komen, founded in 1982, has invested more than $1.9 billion in breast-cancer research, health services and advocacy. Its Race for the Cure fundraising events have become a global phenomenon.
Komen began its partnerships with Planned Parenthood in 2005.
The smallest drop of the Most Precious Blood of our Saviour and God, Our Lord Christ Jesus, is greater in dignity than the cosmos and every human and angelic soul ever created by Him. (Fr. Z)
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