# Susan G Komen cuts funding to PP **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413 "2012-02-01T13:08:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/21 "2012-02-01T16:22:24Z")
I’m really surprised because football players wearing pink uniforms has done so much to end breast cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/22 "2012-02-01T16:27:13Z")
Donated money to Planned Parenthood last night, I was so pissed off. Remind me not to read comments on Yahoo News stories like this - most of them are made by idiots. I posted that I would always be thankful to PP and they would always get my donations because they treated me on a sliding scale back when I was young and uninsured (Pap smear and contraception). The first reply from some idiot who asked why I would donate instead of just paying for my own treatment. Apparently he doesn’t understand verb tenses. Then someone else called me a baby-killer (though I have never even been pregnant, in part thanks to PP). I swear, people are idiots. Too many of them, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/23 "2012-02-01T16:28:44Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > One Congressman having a fit is an “investigation”? > > Komen is run by idiots. From the OP’s linked article. > [@](#): > > The Susan G Komen Foundation’s official line is that they didn’t end their relationship with Planned Parenthood in response to relentless bullying from pro-life groups, but because the family planning organization is currently under investigation by Congress. They have a rule, you see, that bars them from contributing to organizations that are under investigation at the local, state, or federal level. > > Interestingly, this brand new rule that suddenly appeared in the books of the Komen Foundation just so happened to coincide with a Congressional investigation launched by a Republican legislator, who himself was pressured by the pro-life group Americans United for Life. **And last year’s assault on Planned Parenthood also coincided with the addition of a vocally anti-abortion ex-politician to the ranks of Susan G Komen For the Cure.** > > Karen Handel, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin during her unsuccessful bid for governor of Georgia in 2010, has been the Foundation’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy since April 2011. **During her gubernatorial candidacy, she ran on an anti-choice platform, vowing that if elected, she’d defund Planned Parenthood. Handel wrote on her campaign blog, > \*\* > I will be a pro-life governor who will work tirelessly to promote a culture of life in Georgia…. I believe that each and every unborn child has inherent dignity, that every abortion is a tragedy, and that government has a role, along with the faith community, in encouraging women to choose life in even the most difficult of circumstances….** since I am pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.\*\* > > She even promised to eliminate funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings provided by the organization. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/24 "2012-02-01T16:31:32Z")
Relatively recently, Susan G. Komen hired Karen Handel as a Senior Vice President. Handel ran for governor of Georgia in 2010, and in her campaign, vowed to defund Planned Parenthood. She was endorsed by, among others, Sarah Palin. She lost. Guess she found another way to stick it to Planned Parenthood. ETA: ninja’d by _this much._ ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/25 "2012-02-01T16:33:25Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > From the OP’s linked article. That’s interesting, and informative. (I did not read the link; there was a long article about it in the _Post_ this morning. Obviously not long enough. It focused on the Congressman and noted that Komen’s rule was new, but didn’t go into what you quoted. Thank you.) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/26 "2012-02-01T16:36:03Z")
I doubt sending them a nasty e-mail will do any more than sticking you on their e-mail list forever. Komen is run for all intents and purposes like a large corporation these days, and sending a “Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” letter bounces off of them like a fly off a blimp. One of the things that Komen has been good at is convincing people that they’re still acting like a small grassroots charity even though by this point they have more in common with Apple or McDonald’s than your local SPCA or women’s shelter. The “defending trademark” issue is one such thing…how many charities have a team of lawyers at hand to descend on a local organization that dares to use the word “cure” in a fundraiser? (Not to mention the fact that Komen does not actually own the trademark to the phrase “for the cure” with regards to fundraising, but they pretend to; a search through the US trademark database will show they own a lot of “for the cure” trademarks, but by no means all of them, and many of the other ones were trademarked long before theirs. Of course they also tried to trademark pink ribbons, too, before the trademark gently told them that red ribbons had already been trademarked by AIDS charities and grabbing someone else’s trademark and changing its color was about as likely to work as grabbing the Golden Arches and trying to trademark it in orange.) Then there was the whole “send in your yogurt lids and we’ll make a 10-cent donation to breast cancer!” deal. Like they had someone in a back office opening all the envelopes and counting up old crusty yogurt lids. But sending in lids rather than cash makes people think they’re _doing something real_ and not just offering up cash for their guilty conscience, man. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/27 "2012-02-01T16:37:48Z")
This just in! Ya gotta love it. A letter from SGK explaining why they won’t back down on funding PP. > [@Komen](#): > > And while Komen Affiliates provide funds to pay for screening, education and treatment programs in dozens of communities, in some areas, the only place that poor, uninsured or under-insured women can receive these services are through programs run by Planned Parenthood. > > These facilities serve rural women, poor women, Native American women, women of color, and the un- and under-insured. As part of our financial arrangements, we monitor our grantees twice a year to be sure they are spending the money in line with our agreements, and we are assured that Planned Parenthood uses these funds only for breast health education, screening and treatment programs. > > As long as there is a need for health care for these women, we will continue to fund the facilities that meet that need. I guess that only goes until you hire a rightard to run your organization. Then all the rural, poor, underinsured women can fuck right off. Who cares about them anyway? They’re just a bunch of slutty babykillers, let 'em die. Here’s a [PDF](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=open%20letter%20about%20susan%20g.%20komen%20for%20the%20cure&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fww5.komen.org%2FuploadedFiles%2FContent%2FFooter%2FMediaCenter%2Fplanned%2520parenthood%2520winer-09.pdf&ei=BlspT8aVBqbY2gX279jjAg&usg=AFQjCNHlLiao8wqdP6XdE0fclqdl9QjCPw&cad=rja) (maybe a Google cache from their website?). And here’s a [link](http://apps.komen.org/Forums/tm.aspx?m=200701) to the same letter published in their forums (scroll almost to the bottom, post by “Komen Admin”). ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/28 "2012-02-01T17:10:16Z")
> [@ballardfam](#): > > The Susan G. Komen foundation appears to believe that it owns the phrase “for a cure” and also the use of the color pink, at least for fund raising. > > [Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities Over Use Of The Word 'Cure' | HuffPost Impact](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/komen-foundation-charities-cure_n_793176.html) This royally pisses me off. I used to work for AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research) and one of our slogans was “for the cure” and it was written on a small card that had a RED RIBBON. I think most of you of a “certain age” will remember the first time you saw Red Ribbons worn by celebrities at Oscars and other large, public events. This was long before the Susan G. Kormen group jumped on the bandwagon. As per Wiki: "The first known use of a pink ribbon in connection with breast cancer awareness was in the fall of 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.[1] The pink ribbon was adopted as the official symbol of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month the next year, in 1992.[2] **The pink ribbon was derived from the popular red ribbon for AIDS awareness**." I remember a meeting back then with AmFAR and APLA (AIDS Project LA) where it was briefly mentioned that some other organizations were modeling their funding off our ideas and events and pretty much ripping off all of our successful elements. It was very quickly decided to just let it go and not be petty about it. The Susan G. Kormen group would do well to also stop being petty and acting like trademark and copyright fascists. This new slam at Planned Parenthood is an indication this group has become something quite different from the altruistic charity it once was and is now becoming a bully political PAC. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/29 "2012-02-01T17:22:48Z")
I had thought the Komen Foundation had just turned into a bunch of cowards, but then I learned about their new executive. I’ll never understand how a woman can hold such hateful attitudes toward other women. In any case, they’ve lost my support; I’ll also avoid pink-washed items liked the plague they are. Oh, and Planned Parenthood is getting more donations out of me from now on. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/30 "2012-02-01T17:24:41Z")
> [@ballardfam](#): > > The Susan G. Komen foundation appears to believe that it owns the phrase “for a cure” and also the use of the color pink, at least for fund raising. > > [Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities Over Use Of The Word 'Cure' | HuffPost Impact](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/komen-foundation-charities-cure_n_793176.html) Their assholish and litigious actions in this regard have already caused me to boycott anything to do with them. Shame I can’t do it again now that they’ve gone and gotten all pro-life on us. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/31 "2012-02-01T17:25:14Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Except they don’t actually care much if at all about reducing the number of abortions; what they do care about is hurting women as much as possible. I don’t think the latter is a conscious goal. Their essential aim is to not allow abortions to be performed, to the extent they can feasibly do so. Whether the prohibiting of legal abortions, along with the side effects of said prohibition, results in more or less abortions being done is not of concern to them. Nor is whether women are hurt by what they effect. They just want abortion to be prohibited. Any other aspect of the situation is far overshadowed by that overarching objective. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/32 "2012-02-01T17:31:19Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > This just in! > > Here’s a [PDF](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=open%20letter%20about%20susan%20g.%20komen%20for%20the%20cure&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fww5.komen.org%2FuploadedFiles%2FContent%2FFooter%2FMediaCenter%2Fplanned%2520parenthood%2520winer-09.pdf&ei=BlspT8aVBqbY2gX279jjAg&usg=AFQjCNHlLiao8wqdP6XdE0fclqdl9QjCPw&cad=rja) (maybe a Google cache from their website?). > > And here’s a [link](http://apps.komen.org/Forums/tm.aspx?m=200701) to the same letter published in their forums (scroll almost to the bottom, post by “Komen Admin”). I’m having trouble with the PDF, though the forum post is still up (amazingly). ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/33 "2012-02-01T17:59:07Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > This royally pisses me off. > I used to work for AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research) and one of our slogans was “for the cure” and it was written on a small card that had a RED RIBBON. Using yellow ribbons to symbolize waiting for a loved one dates back to Pompeii (AD 79). (according to wikipedia with references) I have the same feeling reading about the Komen stance as I did with the woman who wanted to trademark “lets roll” (9/11 incident). I don’t believe that AMFAR’s decision made their use of the logo less valuable. I think that the Komen foundation, while still providing much needed services to many, has crossed the bridge into corporate mentality where sustenance of the entity is at least as much a focus as the original purpose it was designed for. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/34 "2012-02-01T18:21:59Z")
Yeah, non-profits generally don’t work this way. And the ribbon thing is way, way, way, way older than the Komen Foundation. > [@Brainiac4](#): > > In related news, Brainiac4 cuts funding to Susan G. Komen. Seriously, if you don’t like what a charity does, don’t fund them. I think that goes without saying. But there are a lot of places that I don’t give money; I’m not Gates or Buffett, after all. But just because I don’t give a particular organization money doesn’t mean I actively oppose it. This one, I will. (It’s not the only one of those, either.) > [@Duke](#): > > I doubt sending them a nasty e-mail will do any more than sticking you on their e-mail list forever. That’s easy enough, they got my garbage email address. They can email that one all day, won’t bother me. I really don’t get this attitude of “just stop giving them money, don’t try to push back”. Organizations, even big ones, do sometimes change their minds if they get enough blowback. Not to mention that noise and furor brings the issue to the attention of many more people - which can further move donations from SGK to PP. (That may backfire in this case; evidently there are lots of fundies that wouldn’t donate to SGKF before because of the PP issue - but I’d imagine they already planned to market the hell out of this change to those folks.) Now, it may not work in this case, because this woman is obviously far more committed to destroying Planned Parenthood than she is to the cause the the Komen Foundation purportedly supports. OTOH, if the outrage is loud enough (and the income drops enough), perhaps she won’t be given a choice. It’s worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/35 "2012-02-01T18:38:09Z")
To really push the message home and hurt SGK where they live, there is also the option of boycotting those organizations who slap SKG & pink ribbons all over their labels. You know those companies use it to boost sales and in return provide funding, so what do you think the result will be when sales start dropping? Anyway, this could end up costing SGK a lot more in donations than they sent to PP while simultaneously providing more donations directly to PP. I know a number of people who are pretty disgusted and are upping their direct support by at least the amount they are reducing SGK gifts. I never gave to SGK, but I am planning to increase my annual gift to PP to help close the financial gap. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/36 "2012-02-01T18:43:32Z")
**Mrs. Cake** : Very good idea, I’ll include that in my comments to them. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/37 "2012-02-01T18:46:39Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Their assholish and litigious actions in this regard have already caused me to boycott anything to do with them. Shame I can’t do it again now that they’ve gone and gotten all pro-life on us. That was when I stopped giving them money. ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/38 "2012-02-01T19:01:20Z")
Perhaps because I live in Seattle and we’ve recently seen the largest secular health care system (Swedish) merge with Providence Health Care leading to concerns over reduced services in rural/suburban areas ( [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2016551499\_guest20oyer.html](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2016551499_guest20oyer.html) ), but it may not just be the ‘investigation’ which has lead to Komen’s decision. Providence is one of their donors. I’m not sure for how much. I have seen reference to Komen ‘partnering’ with Providence which has a reputation for requiring no abortion clauses. Possibly I’m just feeling somewhat threatened on the reproductive front and am hearing black helicopters. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/39 "2012-02-01T19:23:24Z")
I reported them for improper conduct, and donated to Planned Parenthood. Never again am I going to buy anything that has a fucking pink ribbon on it. I already was pissed off enough about it all, now they are just being stupidly offensive. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/40 "2012-02-01T19:53:50Z")
Random question - I know SGK is an American “charity” that uses the pink ribbon, but are there other breast-cancer awareness groups in the USA that also use it? If so, it might be worth verifying where their money goes/their stance on the issue, because it would suck to either a)punish another organization that doesn’t share SGK’s views or b)fail to punish them if they do! I actually don’t know the stance of any of the Canadian breast cancer charities on abortion. At the dragon boat events I go to in the summer, there are often American teams participating and raising money for SGK… I’ll politely decline and suggest they support another charity instead, if they want my money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413.md?page=3)