Komen Foundation criticized for pulling funding; reverses decision

Allie Lach- Staff Writer
2/10/12

When the Associated Press broke the news on Jan. 31 that “the nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, was halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates,” the public responded strongly.  The Komen Foundation has since reversed the decision.
The decision came after Komen’s recent policy change that prohibits funding to organizations that are under investigation. Currently, Planned Parenthood is the only grantee that does not meet the requirement of the new policy as it is being questioned by Florida Representative Cliff Stearns for illegally using public money to fund abortions. Stearns pursued the investigation after reportedly being lobbied by anti-abortion advocacy groups.
In response to the decision, 26 senators signed a letter asking the Komen Foundation to reconsider its decision, and many senior cancer researchers with close ties to the foundation were furious.
Clearly, a chord was struck, as the Komen Foundation announced on Friday, Feb. 3, that it would resume funding to Planned Parenthood, which has performed more than 4 million clinical breast cancer exams in the last five years. Of these, 170,000 were paid for by Komen.
In addition to the subsidy reversal, Karen Handel, Komen’s senior vice president of public policy, resigned Tuesday. Handel joined Komen last year after losing Georgia’s gubernatorial race, in which her platform had included halting funding for Planned Parenthood.
Komen Foundation founder Nancy Brinker expressed regret in a statement, saying, “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.”
The refocus of Komen’s mission was also reflected in an open letter which was posted on Facebook by Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA), a nationwide sorority whose philanthropy is dedicated to breast-cancer awareness and education. The letter stated that the sorority’s “donations to and volunteer efforts for Komen are specifically directed toward the Survivor Recognition Program, and not any other Komen grant or funding initiative.”

Jewell ZTA member Jordan Lemons, sophomore, affirmed this statement, saying, “[ZTA donations] have always gone to survivor recognition programs and don’t go to Komen’s general funding.”
In response to the controversial nature of the issue, she said, “ZTA knows that not all 215,000 sisters are going to agree. It’s important to keep the focus on breast-cancer awareness.”
As for the future of the new policy, Brinker stated that Komen “will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is and was right and fair.”
While these events have skirted around controversial issues, they have raised, but not settled, the question of whether foundations dedicated to women’s health can set aside the abortion disagreement while continuing to help all women.