Susan G. Komen Loses Support After Planned Parenthood Decision

Stacey Tillman, a 47-year-old woman from Sandusky, Ohio, says she has donated over $300 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure each year for the past nine years. The issue is close to her heart, she says, because her aunt had breast cancer.

This year, however, following the news that Komen has pulled breast exam funds from Planned Parenthood for political reasons, Tillman is sending her money straight to the family planning provider instead.

"I donated $250 this morning, and then I'll see what I can do in a couple months if I can get more," she told HuffPost in a phone interview. "I've had family members in financial difficulty that have used Planned Parenthood for pap smears and breast cancer screenings. They're getting my money now because they help the needy and the people who fell through the cracks."

After partnering with Planned Parenthood for the past five years to provide cancer screenings to low-income patients, Komen announced on Tuesday that it would sever ties with the family planning provider because it is under investigation in Congress. However, the groups that prompted that investigation are anti-abortion advocacy organizations that have long criticized Planned Parenthood over the fact that some of its clinics offer abortions.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) both criticized and revoked their support for Komen on Wednesday. "I was perplexed and troubled to see the decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut off funding for life-saving breast cancer screenings through Planned Parenthood because of a political witch hunt by House Republicans. I truly hope that they will reconsider this decision and put the needs of women first," Boxer said in a statement.

"I have been a big booster of the Susan G. Komen organization, but not anymore," Speier said on the House floor.

One of Komen's own affiliates withdrew its support as well. The Connecticut affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure said in a statement on Wednesday that it "shares" people's frustration over the decision and that it will continue funding Planned Parenthood of New England.

"The decision regarding the funding of Planned Parenthood was made by Susan G. Komen for the Cure National Headquarters," the group posted on its Facebook wall. "Susan G. Komen for the Cure Connecticut enjoys a great partnership with Planned Parenthood, and is currently funding Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. We understand, and share, in the frustration around this situation. We hope that any investigation prohibiting Planned Parenthood from receiving Komen grants is promptly resolved."

Komen has faced a massive social media backlash since announcing the decision, with angry people flocking to its message boards and Facebook wall to announce that they will no longer donate to the breast cancer charity.

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."

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.

In contrast, Planned Parenthood has seen a huge influx of financial donations in the 24 hours since Komen broke ties. While the organization has not officially released the new donation numbers yet, a source close to the issue said they've raised "hundreds of thousands" of dollars in individual donations during that period. That, combined with a donation of $250,000 from Texas oil executive Lee Fikes and his wife Amy for a "Breast Health Emergency Fund," could put the family planning provider on track to match or surpass the roughly $680,000 it received from Komen in 2011.

Planned Parenthood said it also saw a spike in people making appointments for breast examinations Wednesday.

"The silver lining is that more people than ever are aware that Planned Parenthood provides breast exams, and we're seeing more people calling us today to make an appointment," Tait Sye, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, told HuffPost. "Politics should not get in the way of women's health, and people respond powerfully when they see politics interfering with women's health."

UPDATE: 3:40 p.m. -- Planned Parenthood announced on Wednesday that it has received $400,000 from about 6,000 donors since Komen announced it was cutting funding to the organization on Tuesday afternoon.

The donations "send a message to stand up to bullying and protect access to health care," said Sye.

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

Comments

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[Ltc572805]

08:52 AM on 11/27/2012

Research your charities carefully. There are a number of resources available on the internet for evaluating charities. Instead of giving money "helter-skelter", as I did in the past, I now have two charities that I make approx. 99% of my donations too. Since I am not here to advocate for any particular charity, rather than to advocate research into charities, I'll keep specific identities to myself.

[dk32798]

01:53 PM on 10/08/2012

I believe that Susan Komen (as I am) would be appalled to know that breast cancer and abortions are being Lumped together! How dare they? The 2 have nothing in common. I don't want money that I give toward breast cancer having ANYTHING to do with abortions!!!!!!!!!!! I don't support them now or ever! And yes I have breast cancer. Why should the foundation pay ANYTHING towards abortions either? Their monies are not being donated for Abortions!!!!

[Jennawynn]

06:53 PM on 04/27/2012

I must be reading something wrong here. If SGK stopped financing PP, and their donations rose, I'd say it's from people who are agreeing with the "stopped financing PP part." So why is a PP rep saying it means people believe in PP?

[kellbell269]

11:43 PM on 02/26/2012

As my mother recently went through cancer, I’ve seen what the disease does to not only one person, but an entire family. I agree with some aspects of Grrrlwatch’s comment, stating that “Poor women who develop breast cancer are generally diagnosed at a later, less treatable stage of the disease. “ Logically, this makes sense, but before this story came out, how many women actually knew that Planned Parenthood offered these procedures?
Some are appalled by Komen’s decision; I am appalled by how many people are giving up on Komen, a foundation that is 30 years old, the foundation that has made great strides in finding a cure for cancer. Planned Parenthood is under investigation from Congress for improper usage of public funds to provide abortions. This is not okay. No non-profit clinic should misuse any funds that are given to them. If they are misusing public funds, how is Komen supposed to trust that Planned Parenthood is using the $680,000 for mammograms?
I admire the fact that the Susan G Komen foundation is not going back on their decision due to the dramatic loss of donations to their own foundation, continuing on through the negative publicity in hopes of finding the cure for breast cancer.

[farmilyman]

10:17 PM on 02/22/2012

I Will Not Be Pinkwashed: Komen's Race is for Money, Not the Cure

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/22/breast-cancer-awareness-ribbons.aspx

[moses chairback]

10:03 AM on 02/22/2012

I am a breast cancer survivor, and I will NEVER support the Susan G. Komen Foundation again. Planned Parenthood is about DEATH. Fighting breast cancer is about LIFE. The contrast could not be more stark. That the Susan Komen Foundation was so easily intimidated by left wing zealots, tells me that they are not rooted in principle. I will no longer "go along" with any organization not based in the highest sense of morality, (yes, ladies, it is WRONG to kill children) and worse, not willing to stand up for those truths.

[moses chairback]

09:53 AM on 02/22/2012

I am a breast cancer survivor, and I will not EVER support the Susan G. Koman Foundation again. Planned Parenthood is about death. Surviving breast cancer is about life. That this organization was so easily intimidated by the left wing extremists, is sad.

[Ras Klent]

03:10 PM on 03/21/2012

Wait you're boycotting Susan G Komen because they stopped using donations to help women get screened for breast cancer? Planned Parenthood only uses about 3% of it's funding for murder, the rest of the organization is pretty legit. So not only have liberals boycotting Susan G Komen, but conservatives are too?? That's HILARIOUS LOL!!!! I love how stupid people are. In the end, all the women with breast cancer lose because Republicans hate anyone who isn't a white male.

[Kevin Schramm]

02:37 PM on 08/15/2012

Wow. You're an idiot. You do realize that the Republican Party was founded specifically to fight against slavery. President Abraham Lincoln was the first presidential candidate for the Republican Party. The number one issue at the time was slavery. The Democrats were in support of slavery.

Once the union was divided and only the North "union" was voting for the President, the democrats of the North named themselves the party of Peace. Their objective was to live in harmony with the Conferederacy while maintaining slavery in the South. Please, please do some research before you make comments like this. It is historically untrue throughout slavery and the civil rights movement. The people who fought against civil rights were also Democrats like Robert Bird.

[GoHelen]

06:15 AM on 02/22/2012

This organization gets good grades from charity credentialing organizations and I just dont see how they get away with it with their lavish offices and politicking. To me, all the money donated should go toward breast cancer treatment and screening for indigent women.

[yankhadenuf]

09:07 PM on 02/07/2012

"There have been some serious misreprese­ntations of our position, which is unfortunat­e."

The most reprehensible misrepresentation has been the unspoken one, for years apparently. Had I known that Susan G Komen diverted funds to Planned Parenthood, there never would have been financial support by me via donations and pink ribbon clothing purchases. I feel like an utter fool being an unwitting walking billboard for Planned Parenthood by wearing a pink ribbon fanny pack for the past two years.

[yankhadenuf]

05:49 PM on 02/07/2012

Follow the money... to the abortion clinic.
In addition to WHERE it goes, how can we trust WHAT our Susan G Komen donation is for anymore?
RICO SGK!!!

[rightangles]

04:56 AM on 02/06/2012

Why should women feel good about having their breast examed and a pap ssmear in the same building where a baby is being ripped ffrom a mothers womb. You all have an abortion and try to be so liberal. There are health care clinics that should if a person can not afford a breast exam.

[oheart]

01:22 PM on 02/06/2012

Well, that's it; you or someone has the free choice to go to another facility; that's America.

[yankhadenuf]

08:07 PM on 02/07/2012

We also have a choice to withdraw all our donations to Susan G Komen for deceiving/defrauding us all these years as the organization that "Celebrates Life!"

[Barbara Fanta]

06:37 PM on 02/05/2012

People's reaction to this announcement has politicized the situation beyond anything Susan G. Komen did. Screening for breast cancer is hugely important, and many people didn't know that Planned Parenthood even offered the service. When I think of Planned Parenthood, I think of abortion (maybe it's the name, I don't know). Susan G. Komen for the Cure still uses it's money for breast cancer research and education. Without education, many would not consider screening important, and without research, finding one has breast cancer would be a rather hopeless situation. This whole thing needs to be put into perspective. It's great people are donating to PP for breast cancer screening. Maybe it would be interesting to discover how much of these funds actually go to that endeavor.

[Will737]

04:02 AM on 02/07/2012

No all it did was to pull back the curtain. And what was revealed was very, very ugly. Less than 1/3 goes to research, and even that is suspect because the Komen people attack researchers who reach conclusions that Komen's corporate patrons don't like.

[needlewoman]

02:42 PM on 02/05/2012

Enough already you hypocritical 'pro-lifers.' You aren't genuinely for LIFE = you are not against war. Some among you happily murder personnel who work at abortion clinics. You do not walk your talk by adopting unwanted babies, thus creating reasonable situations for women to decide not to have abortions. You do not use your energy to raise the minimum wage, improve education, housing, etc....making it a better world in which to raise babies, which might encourage less abortion decisions. YOU REALLY DON'T GET IT....THAT ALL YOUR MOVES AGAINST ABORTION ONLY AFFECT POOR PEOPLE. You are, in actuality, ENEMIES OF THE POOR, because wealthy people who want abortions will just get on a plane and travel to a specialty clinic where it can legally be done by a doctor. The way you preen virtuously at the expense of those in poverty is absolutely repulsive.....as are those politicians who cater to you when it serves their image.

[Reallyyourjokingright]

03:47 PM on 02/06/2012

F&F - Well put!

[yankhadenuf]

08:18 PM on 02/07/2012

The vitriol rhetoric of so-called "pro-choicers" is as bad as a teabagger at a Koch conference. There are plenty of us liberal progressives out here that have been pro-life since 1973 and have been silenced by the behemoth superPAC of Planned Parenthood at Democrat and Green conventions for years by BIG Abortion money, dollars clearly collected surreptitiously. Now that we know HOW Planned Parenthood collects its "donations", RICO is in order here.

[Joe Schmoe go]

02:22 PM on 02/05/2012

I don't understand why Komen was donating to Planned Parenthood in the first place.

1 PP doesn't do mammograms.
2 The clientele of PP is much younger than the age group which typically gets their breasts checked.

It doesn't seem like it served much purpose to he goal of preventing breast cancer. Was this payoff money to Planned Parenthood?

[yankhadenuf]

08:33 PM on 02/07/2012

All perceptive points! If it looks like a duck....