Backlash grows over Susan G. Komen-Planned Parenthood flap

Two days after Planned Parenthood announced that its funding from the Susan G. Komen foundation had been cut, women's health advocates are taking to the airwaves to make their dissatisfaction known, decrying the decision as a crass political calculation and urging Komen to reverse the decision.

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, said she was "very shocked" that Komen, a leading breast cancer charity, was cutting ties, and said she hoped they would change their minds.

"I really hope that they will rethink this decision and that we can become partners again," Cecile Richards said Thursday on MSNBC. "We share with the Komen foundation the same goal, which is to make sure that women get access to health care. We were very shocked and very surprised that they decided to pull funding from our health centers, because we're a very significant provider of breast exams to women."

The breast cancer charity has been on the receiving end of scathing criticism since Tuesday, when Planned Parenthood announced that the influential charity had decided to pull hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of annual funding for breast cancer screenings and preventative education.

The organization has defended its decision as part of an ongoing effort to exact "stronger performance criteria for our grantees," but many Planned Parenthood supporters have accused Komen of caving to pressure from the right in what they cast as an ongoing assault on abortion rights.

As of Thursday afternoon, 26 Democratic senators had attached their names to a letter urging Komen to reverse the decision.

"It would be tragic if any woman--let alone thousands of women-- lost access to these potentially life-saving screenings because of a politically motivated attack," the senators wrote in the letter. "We earnestly hope that you will put women's health before partisan politics and reconsider this decision for the sake of the women who depend on both your organizations for access to the health care they need."

"It's a very sad day," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., one of the letter's co-signers, in an interview on MSNBC. "Susan G. Komen has put in place a policy that says directly that they will not provide funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood because of a partisan witch hunt in the House against Planned Parenthood."

"I would ask that all members of Susan G. Komen to reconsider that policy, because it's dangerous for women and it's dangerous for organizations," Boxer added.

When the decision was first reported two days ago, Komen representatives pointed to a new standard in its grant-allocation process as part of the impetus for the change. That standard will prohibit Komen from funding organizations that are under local, state or federal investigations going forward.

Planned Parenthood has in the last several years become a frequent target of congressional Republicans because it provides abortion services in addition to other women's health services while receiving government support. (The government support cannot be used to pay for abortions.) The organization is currently being investigated by the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee over whether or not its funding may have gone to providing abortions, but no result of that investigation has been announced.

In a conference call on Thursday, Komen founder and CEO Nancy Brinker, as well as president Liz Thompson, suggested the congressional investigation was not driving the decision after all.

Brinker said that while "investigations are an issue," another factor was that Planned Parenthood provides what they described as "pass-through" services rather than direct care for breast cancer services.

"This doesn't have really anything to do with that," Thompson said on the call. "I don't know very much about that investigation, frankly.

Brinker said that under the new standards, "we like to be able to direct a person to proper training and diagnosis, and we don't like to do pass through grants anymore." Planned Parenthood, she said, provided only pass-through services.

When asked whether or not other organizations receiving funding from Komen provide only pass-through rather than direct care, Brinker said they were "working to that goal."

Thompson noted that Komen would not be pulling grants already in place, and that three Planned Parenthood locations would continue to receive funding.

"I would like to highlight, we do have grants that will be active that will provide screening services," she said.

Questioned on the number of organizations they continue to fund which provide abortion services, Brinker said, "We're not in the abortion business -- that's not something that we ask people about."

Many have pointed to Karen Handel, a new vice president to the Komen foundation, as a possible force behind  the decision to cut off grant money Planned Parenthood. Handel, who ran for governor of Georgia in 2010, describes herself as "staunchly pro-life" and frequently called for an end to abortion during her gubernatorial bid.

In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Democratic Congresswoman Lauretta Sanchez cited Handel's anti-abortion rights politics as possible evidence that the decision as politically-driven.

"I think it was probably driven by politics," she said. "I do believe that the federal investigation will find no wrongdoing on the part of Planned Parenthood. They are very strict about the type of work they do and accounting for all the funds."

The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, citing several anonymous sources in a Thursday morning blog post, reported that the new regulations were specifically adopted with an eye toward giving the foundation an excuse to cut ties with Planned Parenthood.

Goldberg writes:

"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."

Goldberg also writes that at least one high-profile Komen staffer, Mollie Williams, resigned in protest over the decision to defund Planned Parenthood.

Brinker and Thompson dismissed the idea that the decision was related to abortion politics, and flatly denied the accusation that the new rules were implemented with the intent of defunding Planned Parenthood.

Williams, in a statement to CBS News, said she was not responding to questions surrounding the issue, though she did note that "I believe it would be a mistake for any organization to bow to political pressure and compromise its mission."

When asked about her resignation on the conference call, Brinker and Thompson said it was not Komen policy to release information about employees.

Regardless of whether or not the decision was borne out of political motivations, however, its impact has been to dramatically mobilize Planned Parenthood donors.

Within 24 hours of the announcement Planned Parenthood had raised more $400,000 online, mostly from small donors, according to Tait Sye, a spokesman for the organization.

Additionally, the Fikes Foundation gave Planned Parenthood a $250,000 grant toward starting the Emergency Breast Health Fund, Sye said, in the aftermath of the Komen decision.

And on Thursday afternoon, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he would match up to $250,000 donations from his personal wealth.

"Politics have no place in health care," Bloomberg said in a statement. "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."

[gt3423]

Did anyone ever think these two companies have been breaking the law?

Yes abortion is political however this raises an issue of illegal action. If government funds are being given to planned parenthood, whether directly or through the Cure foundation they still must comply with the purpose of those funds. If the funds are supposed to go towards breast exams, than they can't go for abortions, otherwise they are breaking the law. Both the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood would be held responsible.

There are strict accounting rules surrounding Governmental Accounting (Single Audit, also known as the OMB A-133) in which mandates that the accounting of government funds be accurately kept and support of where the funds are spent must be kept as well. Hiding it by mixing the funds into other bank accounts or through complicated transactions are NOT allowed. Normal practice is to use fund accounting.

I'm assuming that Planned Parenthood was using their funds for abortions even though its only 3% of the services they provide but because abortions account for a minimum of 17% to 34% of their revenue (based off of 2009 and 2010 financial reports) People don't have alot of faith in statistics so i would like to define the ones i've listed above (i.e. 17% and 34%).

Planned Parenthood had stated in their 2010 annual report there were 331,798 and 329,455 abortion procedures performed in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Abortion prices range around $500 (base price) to $1000 maybe even more. The revenue reported by planned parenthood was $997,300,000 and $969,900,000 for 2009 and 2010 respectively. If you take the amount of abortions and multiply it by the price for an abortion and divide it by the total revenue you will get the following.

If the Price of an abortion is $500
Abortion Revenue for 2009: 16.76% of total revenue
Abortion Revenue for 2010: 16.98% of total revenue

If the Price of an abortion is $1000
Abortion Revenue for 2009: 33.52% of total revenue
Abortion Revenue for 2010: 33.97% of total revenue

Don't be surprised if this issue is simply an illegal action being hidden by the social outcry of womens rights. Since abortions is a major line of business, not the 3% that is false advertised, the probability that government funds were used inappropriate is high. I wouldn't be surprised if Planned Parenthood is blackmailing the Cure Foundation by stating if we go down (ie lose funding), the Cure Foundation goes down with them.

[benunhappy]

This go round my donations will go straight to planned parenthood, and I hope others talk to those they care about like I have and they too send this years donations to an org. that helps everyone. Sometimes we cut the threads that hold us together and then we look back and wonder why. HOPE

[Joedupont]

Whose side is the Susan G. Komen Foundation on?

The Susan G. Komen Foundation would appear to more into ego than reducing breast cancer. Instead of pushing cancer producing Mammography they should be trying to support totally safe thermal imaging. Every mammogram increases a women's odds of getting breast cancer between 1 and 2 %. And then after they get it, they zap them even more and wonder why it comes back!

As to birth control, is the Komen Foundation aware that childless women and those who have a first child after the age of 30, as well as those taking the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy also experience a slight increase in risk to get cancer? With friends like this who needs enemies!

[khecka17]

Let me speak for the people who agree with Komen because it originally de-funded the largest provider of abortions in the United States. I completely understand that Planned Parenthood offers greatly needed services in the area of breast health and screenings, and it is unfortunate that one less affordable option is available to women of low income. However, many people were thrilled that an organization dedicated to helping save lives stopped funding another organization which has taken over 300,000 lives a year. Komen's move, although it was a business move, to pro-lifers was a great step in the direction of showing abortion clinics and pro-choicers the fact that abortion will not stand in this country and continue to be so richly funded. I hope this threat, although short, made the founders and executives of Planned Parenthood really think.

[skeezix06]

"and it is unfortunate that one less affordable option is available to women of low income."

You might want to think about the implications behind that statement for a while...

[benunhappy]

we all will be judged one day, until then...

[jodyray2]

Planned Parenthood saved my life. I had stage 1 of cervical cancer.
I went to Planned Parenthood to get a yearly check up and birth control.

[KPeters_from_UK]

Wow!!!

We did it!

Just shows you how many of us are out there supporting women's health!!!!

[signseeker1717]

Yes, indeed! Posts, phone calls, emails, donations - thousands of us took action IMMEDIATELY, and the results speak for themselves.

The House Republicans who started this made a SERIOUS blunder interfering in women's health issues, ESPECIALLY in an election year.

This backlash is only the beginning; the Right has unintentionally energized women voters, the majority of which vote Democratic.

Republicans clearly have a death wish.

[ProgressNow]

Looks like back lash worked... Congratulations Planned Parenthood. You've got your funding back.

[wlhoppers]

This is purely a political move. They're playing with people's lives here but their focus is on money/investments/profits.

I lost faith in SGK awhile ago - they've become a corporate giant, with skewed motives and a loss of their primary vision. They're more concerned with advertising and name branding than they are curing breast cancer.

There are other highly reputable organizations dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. I'd rather give my money to them than to fund the ubiquitous SGK.

[retm-w]

No differen't then United Way a few years back.

[Rafterman11]

Ah, I see Komen reversed itself.

[twmat311]

Yes, so it WAS political!

[Rafterman11]

Cutting funding to groups under investigation is fine. But when that "investigation" is courtesy of a far right wing Republican deciding he doesn't like Planned Parenthood, so he's going to just call for one, without any evidence of wrongdoing, then that's abuse of power by an elected official, clear and simple and Komen should have never condoned this illegal behavior.