Komen Cuts Planned Parenthood Grants Months After Arrival Of New VP, Who Is Abortion Foe

Breast cancer charity giant Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Tuesday did not renew a grant to Planned Parenthood to fund breast exams. The move comes less than a year after Komen hired a new vice president, who has publicly stated her opposition to abortion, a service provided at some Planned Parenthood facilities.

Komen's new vice president, Karen Handel, had run for governor of Georgia in 2010 on an aggressively anti-abortion and anti-Planned Parenthood platform and was endorsed by Sarah Palin because of her opposition to reproductive choice. Handel wrote in her campaign blog that she "do[es] not support the mission of Planned Parenthood."

"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,'" Handel wrote. "Since grants like these are from the state I'll eliminate them as your next Governor." She also wrote that she opposes stem cell research and supports crisis pregnancy centers, which are unregulated, Christian-run operations whose main mission is to convince pregnant women not to have abortions.

After Handel lost the gubernatorial primary, Susan G. Komen for the Cure named her to be its senior vice president in April 2011.

Over the past five years, the Komen organization has given Planned Parenthood health centers the funds to provide nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams to low-income and uninsured women. But now, amid pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers and organizations, Komen has made the decision to cut off hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to Planned Parenthood.

The Komen fund did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun said earlier that the cutoff results from the charity's newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. According to the organization, this applies to Planned Parenthood since 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. Stearns' probe of Planned Parenthood and its handling of federal money had been urged by the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life.

Planned Parenthood said Komen's leadership did not respond to its requests to meet with the Komen board of directors about the decision. "We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "Our greatest desire is for Komen to reconsider this policy and recommit to the partnership on which so many women count."

Below, see where the GOP candidates stand on women's health issues:

Comments

[George From NYC]

06:03 PM on 11/21/2012

I said it months ago and I will say it again, not another dime to this pseudo-religious institution.

Anyone else notice that their new tactic is to leave out the Susan G Koman name in any of their advertising? Now it only says "Pink" in their new ad campaigns.

[MagPi]

12:43 AM on 04/24/2012

I'm not sure why they are running this article again, especially without an update. This was first published in January of this year and after all the furor that ensued with people pulling their donations from the Breast Cancer foundation and the new VP Karen Handel resigning, Ms Komen reversed her decision. It seems the majority of people support planned parenthood and don't want a small segment of the electorate determining what they can and cannot do.

[Haight]

10:35 AM on 02/07/2012

She has resigned!

[Peacewar]

07:10 PM on 02/06/2012

Abortion is a hideously barbaric practice. It will one day be looked down upon with the likes of infanticide, slavery, genocide etc.

It is a grave violation of the most basic and important civil liberty we are guaranteed. Life.

[frbridge]

03:00 PM on 02/07/2012

Agreed! It IS all of the above. It is legalized infantcide.

[maryanngaul]

04:35 PM on 02/06/2012

Nancy Brinker should break all ties with Ms. Handel, who sought to bring Breast Cancer into the political arena.....Komen organization is on the threshold of collapse. I see two options for her: 1. is the afore mentioned ..cut all ties and then reorganize. If she won't, then 2. Mollie Williams who has had experience in the Komen foundation for many years should start a new and political free foundation for Breast cancer. This would allow ALL women, to be able to access diagnostic procedures without discrimination. Planned parenthood has been a target of the Republican party for years...Assisting the poor is definitly NOT on their agenda. Healthcare for all is not on their agenda. Everyone should know this from the cries of "LET HIM DIE" at one of the republican debates. The money donated, nor any government funds given to Planned parenthood, are NOT used for any abortions. I would hate to see the name of Susan B. Komen disappear, but if this foundation collapses, it most definitly will.

[Haight]

10:43 AM on 02/07/2012

Handel has resigned.

[maryanngaul]

06:36 PM on 02/07/2012

I am happy to hear that Ms. Handel has resigned. A charity foundation does not need somebody, who hates the people that are to benefit from the Charity.............

[crunchie]

01:18 AM on 02/06/2012

HP is dumping my posts, bye bye

[jrtcolumbus]

11:30 PM on 02/05/2012

excuse me,,, The S.G.K. foundation has the right to determine were their donations go. if you do not like their decisions, you can donate directly to planned parenthood or any other organization you wish to.

who does everyone think they are, mother teresa?? it is not your money, so if you don't like it donate to the cause you favor.

[Will737]

07:45 AM on 02/06/2012

You are wrong. It was our money. The Komen Foundation lied to us saying that our money was being used to help save women's lives and that this was their priority. Now we find that they are some bunch of right-wing Anti-Abortion zealots who are perfectly willing to put womens' lives at risk if it suits their Anti-Abortion cause. And now we're finding out a whole bunch of other under-reported things: they dismiss and punish scientists who in research find human caused environmental factors like some plastics, they lobby for Anti-abortion nonsense, they have compensation levels that shock the conscience, etc. SO WE WILL TAKE PART OF YOUR ADVICE. WE WON'T SEND THEM ANY MORE MONEY.

[mylittlepwny]

11:33 AM on 02/06/2012

"You are wrong. It was our money."

You donated to the charity so that they could fund planned parenthood? Just send it to PP next time. The charity is still saving women's lives, there are other clinics that can provide the same tests if the charity were to give them the funding rather than PP.

[Tom Sheetara]

04:54 PM on 02/06/2012

yes i agree...and effective today i will donate once a month to planned parenthood....and no pink products or monies to susan g. komen foundation....

[MadasHellnAZ]

05:53 AM on 02/04/2012

Just a few facts..... Pregnancy can cause estrogen positive cancer to grow whether the pregnancy is terminated or wherther it is carried to full term. If you have estrogen positive cancer and terminate your pregnancy you can still die, since estrogen positive cancer is not as well treated as other types of breast cancer. You can also have your child, then find out that you are dying anyway, since the pregnancy fed your tumors and spread to other organs. You also cannot undergo chemo during pregnancy and therefore even if you knew you had estrogen positive breast cancer, You would have to choose between living yourself, or bringing a soon to be orphan into the world without you. So it's not just having an abortion that puts you at risk, it's a pregnancy. So Planned Parenthood helps prevent unwanted/unintended pregnancy, meaning less abortions....It's a no brainer.. Race for the Cure as lost sight of it's goal, and even though they have bowed to public pressure now, I think that their decision to unfund Planned parenthood in the first place has underscored their lack of leadership, accountabilliy and morals. As a survivor, who has raised over $1000 for the cure, and many hours helping on race day, I will no longer allow myself to be the poster child for them to raise huge amounts of money to use to fund their political goals.

[Seablue2u]

06:49 PM on 02/03/2012

Note to self: don't hire Handel and Brinker to fill positions in my company

[sukahpunch7]

06:41 PM on 02/03/2012

Potato gets hot, gotz to drop it! "FLIP FLOP"

[tincup2005]

06:07 PM on 02/03/2012

Habdel is the Komen Ex. VP? What is her experience in charitable fund raising? I must assume her only qualifications to hold a senior position in a supposedly non-political charity is her ability to network her way into a fat paycheck funded by donations. Well not from my pocket anymore. No sir. No m'am. I will not give dime one to these folks ever again - not until those in charge now resign en masse. But will they? Of course not. They will stay and bleed the organization dry until there is nothing left to take. Their egos will always be bigger than the organization mission. And they wonder why people are so pissed? Are they that dumb and blind?

[evolvedtg]

10:00 PM on 04/23/2012

Can you even BELIEVE how much she and the others at the top were RAKING IN? I see now that maybe one penny out of every $25.00 actually went to help women. What a racket.

[masonwealth]

05:34 PM on 02/03/2012

Planned Parenthood was started by Margrate Sanger who wanted to rid the earth of the lower types of human, hence their locating of the majority of their abortion centres in ethnic minority areas.

Several of their centre maagers & directors now actively appose every thing pp stand for as they now what they're really about and have first hand experience of them.

Regarding cancer screening

[retromoderne]

09:55 PM on 02/03/2012

That's a tired, blatant lie. Get the facts:

http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2011/apr/08/herman-cain/cain-claims-planned-parenthood-founded-planned-gen/

[masonwealth]

01:35 PM on 02/04/2012

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." Margaret Sanger's December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts.

[Likeitorleaveit]

09:28 PM on 02/08/2012

Politifact LIES! Sanger DID want to eliminate blacks. I don't know why Politifact is doing this, but don't let them suck you in!
Don't trust Politifact - ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

[alfredo 1]

12:02 AM on 02/04/2012

"retromoderne"
I agree with you.
"masonwealth": Why don't plead a Jon Kyl right now and tell us that your staement "wasn't meant to befactual". It is also written kind of sloppily or ignorantly.

[evolvedtg]

10:15 PM on 04/23/2012

Because I suspect he is one of the church moonies.

[dotbed1]

04:46 PM on 02/03/2012

Romney & Gengrich are both totally non Presidential canidates. Why don't they just give it up . The Repub's are in serious trouble if this is all they have to offer.

[Mrs Robinsons]

03:04 PM on 02/03/2012

To the top of the house...
to the top of the wall...
now dash away
dash away
dash away all...
maybe it is wise to acknowledge that there is a place for dried leaves in our government...
leaves become dried after spending a season, many seasons, LIVING and LEARNING...
in this manner they come to DEVELOP and refine stances on issues such as abortion and planned parenthood.
They learn to look at the factors which may not only cause a young woman to become pregnant...but may also mislead her into the stress which can cause her to abort ...too hastily.
You cannot go back and fix an abortion.

[retromoderne]

09:56 PM on 02/03/2012

I've never regretted mine.

[fred jonze 56271]

12:50 PM on 02/04/2012

at least until you find out how much cheaper condoms are.

[bigbobh]

02:07 PM on 02/03/2012

They arn't getting any of my money.