WTF, Komen Foundation?!

WTF Komen Foundation?!

By Kathy Reschini Sweeney

What the hell is going on at the Susan G. Komen Foundation?  First I read that they will no longer fund Planned Parenthood mammograms.  Then I read that they send their barking-dog lawyers out to intimidate other groups who are raising money for breast cancer research if they have the audacity to use these three words: for the cure.  One must wonder if the Federal Trade Commission, which shares that acronym, is bracing for battle.  What a crock of shit.

I don't know which one pisses me off more.  But I am right and truly pissed - thank goodness I hadn't sent in my Race (FTC) application yet.  

Yes, I said Race.  I have participated in the SGK Race FTC for many years.  Sure, when I do it, it's not really a "race" as much as a ramble.  But I show up and pin on my sign that says:

I Race in Honor of:

My Godmother, Elaine Judge

And I stand among hundreds of sentinels, clapping and weeping as the survivors trek up the hill in Oakland, some in racing shoes and sleek running shorts, some in wheelchairs, and some who, still weary and torn up from treatment, take one tiny, halting step at a time, determined to make that short walk on their own. They wear pink bandanas and pink wigs and pink gloves, and they are a living ribbon of miracles. These surviving warriors walk and run and shuffle for themselves and for the sisters and mothers and cousins and friends we have lost.  It is something everyone should see for themselves.

But I guess I won't be seeing it this year, the year when I would have been proud to join that pink tide of hope and courage.  Because I cannot support an organization, no matter how noble its aspirations, if it discriminates against a woman who cannot afford health insurance or doesn't live in a city that offers free mammogram services.  Don't kid yourself - she could be you, or me, but for the grace of God.  And all our celebratory "early detection" progress doesn't mean squat to a woman who knows damn well that demon is inside her, and she can't find a place to help her battle it.

I really don't give a rat's ass about political affiliation.  I don't care if you think abortion is the work of the devil.  Can't these people see that supporting life means more than one divisive issue? Because that is the specious argument here.  The SGKF can come up with whatever "under investigation" spin on this shanda they choose.  The fact is that Planned Parenthood - as PART of its services, provides birth control and abortion services.  For some people, that makes them the enemy.

So listen up, you dickbrain asshats who pushed the Susan G. Komen Foundation to make this decision: you want to know the enemy?  It's death.  That's what happens when breast cancer goes undetected.  People die.  You want to know what we need to fight?  The cells in my right breast that are growing in thousands of other women right now.  

And double shame on the officers and directors of the Komen Foundation.  You know better.  Do the right thing and reverse this decision.

And just for the record, Planned Parenthood has specific funds that collect money that is used SOLELY for mammograms and breast cancer health, so it's not like you have to fund anything you don't want to fund.  Not that the Komen Foundation bothered to make that distinction.  

That's okay, because I can.  You can too.  

 

 

 

Comments

[Maryann Mercer]

Brava! I was amazed and ashamed that a group I have admired for years because of their determination to wipe out breast cancer can be so easily persuaded to discriminate...yes...discriminate against the poor, especially on an issue like this. Planned Parenthood has grown to mean so much more than just the right of a woman to control her own body. PP counsels and offers care for women, whether it is regarding pregnancy(and disease) prevention, hard to make decisions such as abortion OR choosing to continue the pregnancy, and the knowledge that mammogram and pap smear testing is available even for those who cannot pay. I've never walked or run the SKG FTC although I have supported it. I'm re-thinking that this year. Perhaps I'll send my dollars directly to Planned Parenthood. Politics be damned on this one...it truly can be a matter of life or death.

[Kathy Reschini Sweeney]

Amen, Maryann.

I was aware that the Komen Foundation had some pretty hardline Republicans on their board, but this goes way beyond that kind of affiliation.

I am encouraged to read that some regional Komen affiliates are continuing to fund Planned Parenthood mammograms and telling the national organization to shove it. But I am still hopeful that Komen will change its mind.

The more I think about this, the madder I get!!

[Avis]

I'm with you on this, Kathy. I've supported both organizations in the past, but now I'm sticking with Planned Parenthood. I'll find another way to contribute to breast cancer research.

[mary lynn]

AMEN, SISTER!

[Tom]

So how did this happen at SGKF?

Karen Handel, endorsed by Sarah Palin in an unsuccessful bid for governor of Georgia in 2010, has been the Foundation’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy since April 2011.

During Handel's gubernatorial candidacy, she ran on an anti-choice platform, vowing that if elected, she’d defund Planned Parenthood.

A coincidence, surely.

[Kathy Reschini Sweeney]

Tom - that is nearly word-for-word what my husband Tom said earlier this evening.

What the hell is happening in this country when a small minority of nutjobs can amass this kind of clout?

[m]

Wow. How awful that such a public organization for awareness has done something like this.

[JJ]

Well said, Kathy! I stand alongside you, and have signed the petition.

[mary alice at mystery lovers bookshop]

I am enraged and can think of nothing more than supporting Planned Parenthood for the threats surround them until abortion is no longer a legal and healhy option. A matter of life and death and poor women need pals to protect their bodies from these political threats.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Thanks,

[Tara Schneider]

As a breast cancer survivor, which was caught early because of a mammogram, I am appalled that the SGKF would make such a decision. I have supported them in the past as well, but everyone deserves the right to a mammogram whether they can afford it or not!

[Josh]

Only sluts use Planned Parenthood, to facilitate their slutty-slut-slut behavior, and sluts deserve to die.

There. I said it.

[liz]

OK, so SGK foundation wants to send out their politicos. Look, put on your track shoes, RACE! Can you really turn your backs on the women who are the real heros, who have done battle against cancer? The money is for RESEARCH to find a cure. Pink up ladies.

[Nancy Martin]

Time to put our $$ where it counts, folks. Petitions are one thing. Here's where you donate to PP:
https://secure.ppaction.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=pp_ppol_Nondirected_OneTimeGift&s_src=ppol_onetimegift_old

[William]

I'm sure there are logical (to them) reasons for the Komen Foundation to make this decision, but I damn sure would like to hear it laid out.

Makes NO sense at all. None.

[cindy]

option for people who want to do something for breast cancer. Find a volleyball team who holds a DIG PINK game and make a donation. Frankllin Regaional Girls Varsity Volleyball team has one in October. They started it 2 years ago and got the whole school involved.

[Pastor Suz]

Article on "pinking" of America. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/business/in-the-breast-cancer-fight-the-pinking-of-america.html?pagewanted=all

[Kathy Reschini Sweeney]

A survivor friend in California did a little digging and it turns out that for every dollar donated to the Komen Foundation, barely 20 CENTS actually goes to fund breast cancer research.

Also of note - the obvious bullshit in the SGKF lame-ass explanation that they dropped Planned Parenthood because it was under investigation - yet they continue to partner with Bank of America, which is being investigated by everyone but the NFL.

As my Grove City sisters pointed out on FB, we need to find a better organization to support -

Thanks to Cindy for the DIG PINK suggestion.

Please pipe up if you have another suggestion!

[Meryl Neiman]

You go girl! This is one area where surely life can and should take precedence over politics. Such a shame.

[beachfla]

Ah, Friends, it is worse than you know. In Western Pennsylvania, Komen funding goes to Adagio to provide mammogram vouchers to low income women who are seen at family planning clinics. They are now not even permitting Planned Parenthood to give out mammogram vouchers to low income women. Instead, Planned Parenthood can only give women a telephone number so they can call and have a voucher sent to them by mail. It is outrageous. I participated in the first Race for the Cure here in Pittsburgh and have either participated in or supported the race every year. NO MORE!

[Elaine Viets]

No more donations to the Komen Foundation for me. Too much of their money goes to fancy offices. My money goes to PP, which helps low income women like my grandmother, who died of breast cancer back in the 1970s and my friend Barbara who died two years ago. I know Barbara would NEVER approved of what the Komen Foundation did.
Kathy, if you find a breast cancer organization where more of the money goes to CANCER RESEARCH, let me know so I can write a check.

[Lisa Daily]

Eloquent post, I couldn't agree more. I sent an email on Tuesday to SGK that I would be donating my time and money to support Planned Parenthood instead.

As of right now, PP only needs to raise about $260,000 more in donations to make up for what they've lost from SGK (They've raised more than $400,000 since this story broke.)

Don't just get mad, get out your checkbook!

[Debby]

Why is it that these large foundations feel that they have the right to control all aspects of the 'issue' that they are to be supporting?

I have friends who have supported and run for the SGKF, so this greatly saddens me. I am in on supporting other organizations that are more fiscally reliable with the donated monies.

[Pam aka SisterZip]

Amen, Sister, Amen.

[Tom]

It looks like SGKF has turned into a self-protecting money-business bureaucracy. That's certainly not where it started.

Since Karen Handel joined them, funding has also been cut off for stem cell research, even though that approach presents great promise for anti-cancer therapies. Again, a coincidence, surely.

Some of you may know author John Scalzi. Some of you who don't will enjoy his work, especially ZOE'S TALE. Here's an alternative way to support PP while you score some new e-books:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/02/01/ebooks-for-breast-cancer-screening-and-education/#comments

There's a lively (!!) discussion of the issue there, too.

[Cynthia D'Alba (AKA ArkansasCyndi)]

I am APPALLED at this. Unbelievable. The ONLY way this will be turned around is public pressure, so push people