Enter the Americans United for Life (AUL) - until birth - which has been pressuring SGK to sever their ties with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) because of all those abortions they perform - a whopping three percent of their total services. The fact is, PPFA devotes most of its money and manpower to screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers, treating menopause, testing for and treating sexually transmitted diseases, and providing contraception and prenatal care.
The money provided by Susan G. Komen for the Cure went to just a fraction -- about 19 according to one report -- of Planned Parenthood's more than 85 affiliates. And it was all -- roughly $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before that -- used for breast-cancer screening and other breast-health services for low-income, uninsured, and under-insured women.Last September, Rep. Cliff Stearns, bowing to right-to-life-until-birth lobbying efforts, launched his spurious investigation of PPFA to determine whether public money had been spent on abortions over the last decade.
Interestingly, this investigation just happened to coincide with a brand spanking new rule at SGK which forbids them from donating to any organization that is under local, state or federal investigation. Smell anything yet?
Then the fates (or was it God's will) intervened on behalf of those right-to-life-until-birth folks in the person of Karen Handel, SGK's new (as of April 2011) Senior Vice President for Public Policy. Writes Erin Gloria Ryan at Jezebel:
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. Handel wrote on her campaign blog,
"I will be a pro-life governor who will work tirelessly to promote a culture of life in Georgia…. 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."
She even promised to eliminate funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings provided by the organization.
Obviously, the confluence of the AUL, Stearns' specious investigation and the hiring of Handel just didn't happen by happenstance. Nope. As in all non-profit organizations, the board of directors exists to oversee and direct its operations. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens, without their approval and the approval of its CEO, who in this case just happens to be its founder Nancy G. Brinker.The reaction to Komen's announcement that they were severing their not-too-cozy ties with Planned Parenthood was swift and it was angry and it was loud - a public relations disaster for SGK and a boon for PPFA. The Susan G. Komen Foundation, which cannot be distinguished from the Race for the Cure, shot itself in one foot with a double-barrel shotgun with this decision and then shot itself in the other by lying, further damaging its credibility.
For how long is anyone's guess but I suspect no amount of damage control is ever going to win back the hearts and dollars of lost donors or attract a huge new donor base. There just aren't enough right-to-life-until-born believers to support them in the style to which they've grown accustomed.
Out of every evil comes some good, however. After the story broke early Tuesday evening, it went viral on Facebook and Twitter, proving that sometimes, at least, these social networks can produce a chain reaction that is both awesome and heartwarming.
Within 24 hours, donors had contributed $650,000 to Planned Parenthood, "nearly enough to replace last year's Komen funding." $400,000 was raised by more than 6,000 donors and donations are still coming in.
The group also launched a Breast Health Emergency Fund to ensure funding to affiliates that will lose their Komen grants. That fund received a $250,000 gift from the family foundation of Dallas philanthropist Lee Fikes and his wife, Amy.Planned Parenthood allies flooded the Komen Facebook page and other online message boards to express their anger and frustration. Komen, in a lame attempt that is disingenuous at best, is offering up a menu of lies and deception to try to stem the criticism. But most folks are having none of it, including the president of the Connecticut chapter who expressed her dismay on its Facebook page.
Many commenters on Facebook have complained that Komen is scrubbing some of the more negative comments from its wall, but a spokesperson for Komen said the organization is only deleting the profane ones.
"We have not and do not scrub negative comments from Facebook unless they include profanity," said Leslie Aun, vice president of communications for Komen. "There have been some serious misrepresentations of our position, which is unfortunate. The level of interest reflects the fact that people care deeply about breast cancer and women's health issues."This, my friends, is just another lie, to which I and many others can attest.
The main sentiment among the thousands of people posting online seems to be that regardless of one's position on the issue of abortion, it is wrong to politicize women's health. According to a new Polipulse analysis of online conversations about the issue, only 26 percent of people believe Komen made the right decision. Nearly a quarter of the people who expressed criticism of Komen's decision online said they were going to pull their donations from Komen.Like Southern Beale in her rant Take Your Pink Ribbon & Shove It, I have no words but I share her anger toward SGK and the right-to-life-until-birth believers. "You’d rather grown, adult women die of undiagnosed breast cancer because a principle is more important than a person." Also read her First They Came For Susan G. Komen . . .
To quote my own comment after an excellent post at Progressive Eruptions:
Disgusted. Outraged. Pissed. None of these adjectives suffice.Stay tuned. More to come.
UPDATE: As everyone, including blind, deaf and senile old Aunt Sally, probably knows, Nancy Brinker has apologized and said SGK will continue funding PPFA. Part 2, in an unintended change of direction, will look at the apology that isn't and why readers might be justified at feeling just a tad skeptical about Komen's sudden reversal.
TOP KOMEN OFFICIAL HINTS SHE RESIGNED OVER PLANNED PARENTHOOD FLAP
ReplyDeleteBy John Aravosis on 2/02/2012 01:38:00 PM
It sure sounds like she's confirming that Komen bowed to political pressure when it cut off funding for Planned Parenthood clinic breast exams. From the Atlantic:
Mollie Williams, the Komen official who resigned to protest the organization's decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood, just sent me this statement, which I am reprinting in full:
"Thank you for contacting me. As a public health professional, I must honor the confidentiality of my former employer, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and for this reason, I 'm not responding to questions about Komen's decision to no longer fund Planned Parenthood.
"However, anyone who knows me personally would tell you that I am an advocate for women's health. I have dedicated my career to fighting for the rights of the marginalized and underserved. And I believe it would be a mistake for any organization to bow to political pressure and compromise its mission."
http://www.americablog.com/2012/02/top-komen-officials-hints-she-resigned.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Americablog+%28AMERICAblog%29
Thanks, Sally. I applaud Williams for her integrity. Like I say, this decision is going to have major ramifications for a long time and none of them good for SGK.
DeleteHate to tell you, but that link doesn't work.
http://www.americablog.com/2012/02/top-komen-officials-hints-she-resigned.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Americablog+%28AMERICAblog%29
DeleteUNIVERSITY GROUP ENDS KOMEN COLLABORATION AFTER PLANNED PARENTHOOD DECISION
ReplyDeletePosted by Lena H. Sun
In the continuing fallout from the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision this week to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a national women’s advocacy group with 1,000 branches across the country said Thursday it would no longer collaborate with the foundation.
The Washington-based American Association of University Women said it would no longer list Komen among the community service opportunities available to the 600 college women who attend the AAUW’s annual leadership conference in June. The headquarters office will no longer sponsor Washington teams in the Komen-sponsored Race for the Cure and expects its branches to follow suit, said Lisa Maatz, AAUW’s director of public policy and government relations.
In years past, the women attending the annual leadership conference could choose to volunteer for the race, Maatz said. The decision to cancel Komen as a volunteer choice is a message that “we want to send to these best and brightest young women, that we’re modeling to them to stick to their principles and make tough calls if you have to,” she said.
“This whole thing is quite regrettable, and we would really like to see a different outcome,” Maatz said. “We want to make sure we have breast cancer screening for poor women and the underserved. This isn’t rocket science, this is public health.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/university-group-ends-komen-collaboration-after-planned-parenthood-decision/2012/02/02/gIQA1cnmkQ_blog.html?wprss=ezra-klein
Thanks, Peggy. I suspect there are going to be a lot more groups yanking their support of Komen and they won't be just women's groups either.
DeleteKOMEN FOR THE CURE's KOMENTASTROPHE
ReplyDeletePosted on February 2, 2012 by ABL
When I first wrote about KomenGate, I surmised that Komen’s “new criteria” (no grants to organizations under investigation) which resulted in the defunding of Planned Parenthood were adopted specifically to give Komen an excuse to bail on Planned Parenthood. (Planned Parenthood is under investigation by Florida Representative Cliff Stearns.)
As I wrote in September, it’s a bullshit investigation designed to undermine Planned Parenthood and subvert its purpose out of fealty to the religious right. And, it seems clear to me that Komen for the Cure adopted its “new criteria” specifically so it could hang its hat on Stearns’ bullshit investigation and then throw up its hands: “Whelp! What’re ya gonna do?”
It turns out I was right. From Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic:
Komen, the marketing juggernaut that brought the world the ubiquitous pink ribbon campaign, says it cut-off Planned Parenthood because of a newly adopted foundation rule prohibiting it from funding any group that is under formal investigation by a government body. (Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, an anti-abortion Florida Republican, who says he is trying to learn if the group spent public money to provide abortions.)
But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new “no-investigations” rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization’s new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is “pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I’ve tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her.
~snip~
Another source directly involved with Komen’s management activities told me that when the organization’s leaders learned of the Stearns investigation, they saw an opportunity. “The cart came before the horse in this case,” said the source, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity. “The rule was created to give the board of directors the excuse to stop the funding of Planned Parenthood. It was completely arbitrary. If they hadn’t come up with this particular rule, they would have come up with something else in order to separate themselves from Planned Parenthood.”
I doubt Komen will recover from this. As noted in Goldberg’s article, Mollie Williams, the organization’s top public official has resigned because of Komen’s decision. The Connecticut Komen and Denver affiliates of the national Komen organization are fighting back. There has been an outcry on Twitter and on Facebook. People are pissed.
Moreover, Komen’s response has been a PR failure. Komen is reportedly deleting negative messages from its message board and Facebook Wall. Karen Handel made an ass of herself on Twitter when she retweeted, “Just like a pro-abortion group to turn a cancer orgs decision into a political bomb to throw. Cry me a freaking river.”
http://www.angryblacklady.com/2012/02/02/komen-for-the-cures-komentastrophe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=komen-for-the-cures-komentastrophe
For some reason your comment went to spam and I just now saw it. ABL is on my blog roll and I had read this excellent article. But thanks for sharing it here. She is one hell of a blogger in my book.
DeleteTHANK you for telling me; I am using a new browser and it is kicking me. Try this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.americablog.com/2012/02/top-komen-officials-hints-she-resigned.html
I find all of this wayyyyyyy too weird for words. Before I finally got my disability, I didn't have health insurance and one of my docs at a local hospital's clinic referred me to a local agency called the Pink Ribbon Project that provides mammograms for poor women and they funded my annual mammogram. My mom is a breast cancer survivor because of early detection so I'm a freak about it. And I send a donation to the PRP every year when it's time for my mammogram.
ReplyDeleteI had heard of PRP but really didn't know much about them, so went to their website. Sounds like a terrific organization but I'm surprised Komen hasn't sued them for using a pink ribbon.
DeleteMe, too! Glad you liked PRP -- they are one of the nicest, easiest social service agencies I've ever dealt with. I'm putting it in my will that my friends can make donations in my memory.
DeleteFabulous idea.
DeleteLeslie, this is brilliantly done. Thank you for collecting the facts and presenting them in a readily understood format.
ReplyDeleteI love your introductory paragraph, especially the closing sentences: In a scene spanning just a few hours, the Susan G. Komen Foundation (SGK) went from wearing pink ribbons to wrapping itself in black shrouds. I've never seen cancer spread so fast.
Sarcasm seems to go hand in hand with anger. Thanks.
DeleteHear, hear!!
DeleteFabulous post! Many thanks, Leslie. Stay tuned for the continuing iies coming to cover up Komen's totally unfortunate decision. They have serious deficits in their emotional, cultural, and leadership intelligence.
ReplyDeleteYes they have. A HUGE misstep. But I'm thrilled with all the support going to PPFA.
DeleteThank you, Leslie, for all your research and posting this information. I will continue to follow this. It is evident that SBK has made a terrible decision in its move toward defunding women's breasst health based on a narrow religious group of fundies.
ReplyDeleteWe must keep the pressure on. As a breast cancer survivor, I am astonished by their stupid move toward making life more perilous and difficult for women who do not have resources to keep themselves healthy.
It is a bit mind boggling. I've never thought Brinker was a stupid woman, but this decision certainly gives me cause to wonder. Obviously that Dallas high society life has insulated her from the needs of the common man and woman.
DeleteSome good news:
ReplyDelete"Politics has no place in health care. Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care. We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way. This is why I will match every donation to the Planned Parenthood Breast Health Fund dollar-for-dollar up to $250,000.
Experts estimate that there are 225,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed each year. Nearly three million men, women, and teens visit Planned Parenthood health centers each year. Planned Parenthood health centers provide nearly 750,000 clinical breast exams each year.
The fund will give more women access to lifesaving care — this is what it means for women and men to stand with Planned Parenthood health centers and those they serve. Every dollar you donate now will go twice as far to help Planned Parenthood health centers provide breast health education, screenings, and referrals for mammograms to women who very often have nowhere else to turn.
Thank you for standing with me to support Planned Parenthood,
Mayor Mike Bloomberg"
Very well said!!! NO form of healthcare should be used as a political football and that's the bottom line!!!!
DeleteExcellent synopsis. I've signed and donated.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nance. I'm really thrilled with the outpouring of support for PPFA.
DeleteI am a 67 year old lifelong Catholic and breast cancer survivor. But, first, I am a woman. I am appalled at my Church interfering in politics. No one will ever tell me how to vote. I do not think anyone should be able to control a woman's body. I applaud the decision to make catholic employers pay for their employees birth control. I have only to look at my neighboring state, Kansas, to see just how much they care for "Life" as they cut health care to children born here whose parents are illegal immigrants. I do not know anyone who has had an abortion and not agonized over the decision. I am writing a check to Planned Parenthood.
ReplyDelete"I do not know anyone who has had an abortion and not agonized over the decision." Of course not, but to hear "them" talk about it, all these women are callous sinners. That's why I call these people the right-to-life-until-birth believers. After birth, you're on your own except when it comes to personal decisions about your sex life and health care.
DeleteWell done, thanks for doing a boat load of research.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's been interesting, to say the least.
DeleteThis is my first visit to your blog - got the link from TomCat at Politics Plus. Nice job of research, reporting and commentary. I have long had my suspicions about Komen: waay too much overhead expense, six-figure salaries for their top execs, many of whom have ties to the far right fanatics, and an eagerness to sue to protect their "brand name" that would make Disney proud.
ReplyDeleteI like your description "right-to-life-until-birth," it is right on. Allow me to suggest a couple others: "Advocates for gestational slavery," and "Forced-birther."
Komen has stepped far enough over the line with this action that they shouldn't be allowed to recover from it - just by way of sending a message to anyone else considering the same stunt. From now on, my wife and I send out donations straight to PP.
Thanks for coming by and, by all means, don't let this be your one and only visit. ; ) Hah, I like your descriptions. I'll have to remember them.
DeleteKomen, I think, has done irreparable damage. I've waited to write Part 2 because of wanting to see all the fallout and to discover what other discoveries are being made made now that so much attention is focused on them. Besides what you mention, there are several other unsavory items that no non-profit should be engaged in.
I think Komen has learned a lesson its leadership will never forget. Don't be surprised if there's some serious housecleaning, starting with Hanedl. Without that, the organization could soon find itself crippled or out of business. Even with a housecleaning, it's likely to be a long time living this down.
ReplyDeleteOne other thought. What Komen did wasn't for a principle, IMO. It was a lame-brained powerplay because Handel and probably some others, thought they could do it and get away with it. Some zealots get steeped in what can only be described as an obsessive disorder and in their own extremist rhetoric, and from there the ends justify the means, nothing else matters.
I suspect that reality has broken into Handel's bubble in a big way in the reaction to this powerplay. I just hope responsible directors at SGK will realize their organization was highjacked, used and abused, then show Handel and any accomplices the door.
Everybody is targeting Handel, but as despicable as she is, she doesn't set policy. As I said in the article, the CEO and board of directors oversee and direct policy - nothing gets done without their approval. Handel was hired to expedite such policy. People need to focus higher. I suspect a move in this direction was being developed long before she came on board - just not the board board. ;)
DeleteDuring the ten years I had my own research business, 98% of my clients were non-profits. I have to say I've never seen anything quite like this and I'm not sure Komen will ever recover. They certainly need to clean house, starting at the top and working down, and I'm not sure they shouldn't be investigated.