Komen vs. Planned Parenthood: CEOs Speak Out

by Thanh Tan
February 2, 2012
45 Comments

Update: This afternoon, Susan G. Komen for the Cure CEO and founder Nancy Brinker made her first televised appearance since the foundation's decision to end funding for Planned Parenthood. She was interviewed on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports. "This is shocking to a lot of your longtime supporters. ... Your branding is at stake," Mitchell — who disclosed she is a past participant in Race for the Cure and a breast cancer survivor — told Brinker. It was a tough and pointed interview. The Dallas philanthropist maintained that her organization will continue to fund screenings. "We're not giving less money in ...

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Comments (45)

February 2, 2012 @ 11:27 a.m.

Lee Dunkelberg via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Komen lies.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:30 a.m.

Dan Westemeier via Texas Tribune on Facebook

You should keep your divisive political and religious views far far away from charities.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:31 a.m.

Lee Dunkelberg via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Komen has hunkered down, afraid to face the public, issuing decrees from its pink tower. Good way to not have your lies thrown in your face by an interviewer.
In the meantime, Planned Parenthood is not afraid to face the public.
Pink is dead to me.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:31 a.m.

Joy Mitchell via Texas Tribune on Facebook

SGK will never again get money from me. Their action insures more poor women will die due to late diagnoses. I hope everyone will donate to other breast cancer researchers and to Planned Parenthood.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:33 a.m.

Dave Mundy

So let me see if my simple conservative mind can grasp this. "Right-wing influences" are baaaaaaad, while "Leftist influences which support genocide against blacks" is goooooood. Am I getting the correct interpretation, Cecile?
February 2, 2012 @ 11:34 a.m.

Kimberly Maudine via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Komen is full of it, and I will be giving directly to PP and my local cancer charities.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:34 a.m.

Dave Mundy via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Cecile Richards lies.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:34 a.m.

Jesus McBootypants via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I'm canceling our walk at work and setting up something for another group
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:36 a.m.

Rachelle Rochelle via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Komen has been known to team up with fast food company Kentucky Fried Chicken to offer pink buckets of fried chicken "for the cure". This organization sold out long ago. Planned Parenthood on the other hand received over USD400,000 in the 24 hours following this announcement. I only hope it continues. As a friend posted, cancer doesn't care if you are pro-choice or anti-choice.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:39 a.m.

Cathy Moore Pritchett via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I will NOT participate in any walk or buy any Komen merchandise as long as they give money to Planned Parenthood and I have many friends who feel the same!
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:42 a.m.

Lewis Schrock via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I recommend we make it clear to the advertisers that they partner with that we'd prefer they just join with the American Cancer Society or other non-partisan groups.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:43 a.m.

Andy Jones via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I call BS. Brinker puts donors, partners and volunteers first and then mission. What was that mission again....
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:44 a.m.

Johnna Johnston via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Politics instead of health. Wow...the only losers are the women who need care. Shame on everyone who uses cancer research for political gain. Women for planned parenthood unite.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:48 a.m.

Justin Kugler via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Mundy, sources went on record with the Atlantic that this was driven by the new VP for public policy and that the rule was created to give SGK an excuse to sever ties with PP, despite advice from senior staff that this was not a prudent course. That they are now willing to throw other organizations under the bus to protect that decision should not come as any surprise. SGK chose a failed political candidate from Georgia to play politics and it blew up in their faces.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:49 a.m.

Katherine Bennett Ray via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Amen to that! If we women don
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:51 a.m.

Katherine Bennett Ray via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Well, that was supposed to say if we women don't stand up and make our voices heard (by refusing to give to Komen unless they change their policies and donating to Planned Parenthood and the American Cancer Society instead of Komen), nothing will change, and the Far Right will have won again. The Far Right does NOT speak for the majority of Americans, but we, the majority, especially women, MUST speak out to make that known.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:53 a.m.

Milton Shoquist via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Think I'll make a donation to SGK now.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:54 a.m.

Laura Campos via Texas Tribune on Facebook

To everyone lamenting this decision: Planned Parenthood DOES NOT provide mammograms! Additionally, they are the nation's largest abortion provider, and it is a proven fact that abortion is related to a higher risk of breast cancer. Thus, this decision is a good one regardless of the reasons Komen has for defunding PP.
Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq0kBkUZbvQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:57 a.m.

Tracy Griffith via Texas Tribune on Facebook

They can say what they want but hiring a VP who vowed to cut PP funding speaks volumes.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:59 a.m.

Lee Dunkelberg via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Obviously, Komen is not alone in fighting its battle with lies.
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February 2, 2012 @ noon

Justin Kugler via Texas Tribune on Facebook

So what, Laura? The vast majority of the grants were going to screening exams. And so what that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider? It still only account for 3% of their business.

Also, it is not proven that abortion is related to a higher risk of breast cancer. The studies that claim it have experimental design issues and are not conclusive. http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/MoreInformation/is-abortion-linked-to-breast-cancer
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February 2, 2012 @ 12:02 p.m.

Milton Shoquist via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Kind of like global warming???
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February 2, 2012 @ 12:05 p.m.

Alicia Quinn Sankar via Texas Tribune on Facebook

The scientific community does not support the hypothesis that abortion is related to breast cancer. This is ridiculous: The abortion–breast cancer hypothesis has been the subject of extensive scientific inquiry, and the scientific community has concluded that abortion does not cause breast cancer. This consensus is supported by major medical bodies,[5] including the World Health Organization,[6] the U.S. National Cancer Institute,[7][8] the American Cancer Society,[9] the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,[10] and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.[11]
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February 2, 2012 @ 12:06 p.m.

Katherine Bennett Ray via Texas Tribune on Facebook

And Planned Parenthood's breast screenings are all poor women have. This decision will definitely kill people. Plain and simple. More women will die (poor women) because of SGK's decision. But I guess like Mitt Romney, too many people in the US really don't give a damn about the poor. Well, I do! I was poor when I was a kid so I have some idea of what hurdles poor people in this country face.
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February 2, 2012 @ 12:06 p.m.

Lee Dunkelberg via Texas Tribune on Facebook

It seems that denying women their rights and threatening their health makes some conservative men feel like big men and quite smug.
Sad.
Jesus is watching you.
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February 2, 2012 @ 12:06 p.m.

Tracy Griffith via Texas Tribune on Facebook

BUT they DO provide referrals for mammograms, I imagine because they do not have the equipment/personnel to do them on site.
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February 2, 2012 @ 12:27 p.m.

Tracy Griffith via Texas Tribune on Facebook

In addition, @Laura Campos, if you read the comments under the video link you supplied, you will find that SOME Planned Parenthood offices do indeed offer mammograms. The video only highlights offices that do not or calls were cut off or edited to show what they wanted to show.
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February 2, 2012 @ 2:03 p.m.

Sierra Treanor via Texas Tribune on Facebook

it needs to be screamed not said
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February 2, 2012 @ 2:54 p.m.

Carl Fant via Texas Tribune on Facebook

BOOOOO! Planned Parenthood provides lower income women with health resources that might not be able to afford elsewhere. Komen is going right wing apparently.
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February 2, 2012 @ 4:10 p.m.

Chris Bazan via Texas Tribune on Facebook

so tired of right-wing BS
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February 2, 2012 @ 5:28 p.m.

Isela Diharce via Texas Tribune on Facebook

How disappointing. Plain and simple, they gave in to political pressure.
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February 2, 2012 @ 6:13 p.m.

Katherine Bennett Ray via Texas Tribune on Facebook

My largest possible contribution is going to PP in honor of (and please notify) Karen Handel, Sr. VP of Fail, C/O Susan G. Komen Foundation, PO Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265. We must continue each year to do this! PP has already received more, in excess over its normal contributions, just since SGK's announcement, than it received annually from SGK (just heard it on the news). Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
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February 2, 2012 @ 6:58 p.m.

Mike Openshaw via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Private sector organization, making a decisions. Donors can also make thier OWN decisions. And, unlike the commentors here, the verdict out in the 'giving' world seems to be pretty clear: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/02/after-cutting-ties-with-planned-parenthood-komen-donations-up-100-percent/
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February 2, 2012 @ 7:06 p.m.

Jim Hsu via Texas Tribune on Facebook

So Mike, private sector orgs making their own decisions also live and die by the consequences of their own decisions. They don't have to support anything specific, but what they do and don't support are an indication whether they actually act out what they say they are acting out.

Only Nancy Brinker's claiming their donations are up. No one else is verifying it. Not exactly credible, since Brinker runs an org that doesn't support women's health, only pretends to, so her credibility is not exactly solid.

Here's a more credible report, of what PP is getting by shedding the tumor that is Komen:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/bloomberg-to-give-250000-to-planned-parenthood/?hp
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February 2, 2012 @ 7:16 p.m.

Anya Khan

PP..you don't agree with everything we say or do so it must be a vast rightwing conspiracy... I donated to Komen today
February 2, 2012 @ 11 p.m.

Lynne Margolis via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Funny that people claiming abortion leading to breast cancer is a good reason to quit funding mammograms. Giving birth leads to breast cancer, too. Does that mean no one should have kids?

It would seem the solution is simple. Komen could fund mammogram machines and technicians at Planned Parenthood centers. If their mission is eradication, as they say, it would be in their interest to make the tests as accessible as possible to the people who need them most. Or they could set up their own centers. It's hard for me to believe they have the best interests of the neediest women at heart if they're unwilling to do EVERYTHING possible to provide access to the one test they advocate as the best detection method in the alleged race for the cure. The hard part to swallow is that so many people have worked so hard to raise funds and support Komen by purchasing pink products, and the organization turns around and pulls funding to the one place that's putting it to such good use. What's the difference if mammograms are on-site or not? If it matters so much, just fund more mobile test centers or freestanding ones. That's it. End of issue.
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February 2, 2012 @ 11:01 p.m.

George Schwarz

http://amaindy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3132:stop-making-women-political-pawns&catid=40:an-independent-attitude&Itemid=60
February 2, 2012 @ 11:04 p.m.

JC DemocratofTejas

Anya Khan is an idiot. Take your hateful b.s. somewhere with people that are as ignorant as you. Planned Parenthood is over 40 years old. The good they have done is incredible. Perhaps you should invest your feebleness in studying someone like Mayor Bloomberg. And, remarkable that Planned Parenthood has received 1million in donations in 24 effing hours...more than komen and the repugs that run them have done in a year. komen's contributions to Planned Parenthood were appox. 1% of their annual donations. Get it? Doubtful. Crawl back into that hateful hole you came from!
February 3, 2012 @ 6:57 a.m.

Dave Mundy via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Justin, call a PP clinic and see if you can set up a mammogram. They don't do them.
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February 3, 2012 @ 7 a.m.

Dave Mundy via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Speaking of "hateful," it's good to see you again JC. Every time I hear about how mean and evil those ol' nasty right-wingers are, someone on the left pops off with something more vile and vicious than was ever even approached by the conservatives.
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February 3, 2012 @ 8:09 a.m.

Hannah Katz

I am sure that a progressive group will step up and fund PP. Let the conservatives fund conservative causes and the liberals fund liberal causes.
February 3, 2012 @ 9:14 a.m.

JC DemocratofTejas

Here's to you Brinker and Handel! From Alternet, pretty righteous reading from the lies Komen spews:

"...they fought behind the scenes in my state to prevent the governor from adopting the treatment program. They worked for several years to stall or kill the Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act. In the end, they eviscerated it by removing new funding for environmental research and substituting a panel to review all research on breast cancer & environment. Using private funds, they recently collaborated with the Institute of Medicine to develop said report. Released last December, it sadly detailed the same old arguments that there's no evidence of links between environmental toxins and that no further research should be done on the subject since everyone has those toxins in their bodies already. Instead they chose to blame breast cancer patients for getting the disease.

In 2009, Komen lobbied behind the scenes to weaken the healthcare bill (ACA) as it was being debated in Congress. They hired Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Joe, in an effort to convince Joementum to vote against the Public Option. Komen spent over $1 million in 2008 & 2009, on behind-the-scenes lobbying related to the healthcare reform bill, so who knows what else was on their agenda."

All this not to mention funding Penn State which is currently under investigation for child abuse. Get it? Good!
February 3, 2012 @ 9:15 a.m.

JC DemocratofTejas

David Munday is a troll. Any relations to that grandiose car dealer? Huh? 1 percenter. He-man women haters club alive and well in white maledom. Go away.
February 3, 2012 @ 9:17 a.m.

JC DemocratofTejas

Poor little puppy you hide behind Daveed.
February 3, 2012 @ 11:03 a.m.

JC DemocratofTejas

HAHAHAHAHAHA--too little too late. LOSERS!

Hey Milty & Daveed:

Cancer Group, Reversing Course, Says It Will Maintain Planned Parenthood Funding

Susan G. Komen for the Cure said on Friday it was retreating from a decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and birth control services, and apologized for a move that thrust the breast cancer charity into a deeply politicized controversy.