# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/81 "2012-02-02T16:15:09Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Is PP the only organisation that can do them? PP isn’t the only place that _can_ do them, but for millions of women who don’t have private health insurance but aren’t quite poor enough for government assistance, they’re the only place that _will_ do them. It doesn’t matter how many places there are that are able to do cancer screens if none of them will see you because you don’t have money. The simple fact of the matter is that without PP, women who fall in the coverage gap (like myself in younger days) will go without screening for lack of access to other providers. That is completely antithetical to Komen’s stated purpose for existing, and it is unacceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/82 "2012-02-02T17:12:34Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Do those selfless MD’s also test for cervical cancer & other malignancies? Do they supply contraceptives for women who want them? What if men want information on contraception? You mean pap smears, breast cancera, STDs and that stuff? Sure. Their main target is poor, pregnant women (pre-natal care basically, ecos, supplements). In the case of contraception, since they are conservative Catholics they don’t provide them, but refer them to the free access to contraceptives the state provides or to other M.D.s who would. > [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > PP isn’t the only place that _can_ do them, but for millions of women who don’t have private health insurance but aren’t quite poor enough for government assistance, they’re the only place that _will_ do them. It doesn’t matter how many places there are that are able to do cancer screens if none of them will see you because you don’t have money. The simple fact of the matter is that without PP, women who fall in the coverage gap (like myself in younger days) will go without screening for lack of access to other providers. > > That is completely antithetical to Komen’s stated purpose for existing, and it is unacceptable. My point is that I’m sure there are other, non-PP organsations who also provide free/low-cost services (and they are also, in some places, the only ones) and those organisations could receive the funding and continue the work. On the let’s-bash-SKG camp I’d like to say that if they wanted to stop donating to PP because they provide abortions, they should’ve said straight on and not go into “Chapter 5 Art. 45 of our by-laws …” and say “we won’t fund organisation that provide abortions, and we will know donate to XrT which doesn’t”. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/83 "2012-02-02T17:14:09Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > My point is that I’m sure there are other, non-PP organsations who also provide free/low-cost services (and they are also, in some places, the only ones) and those organisations could receive the funding and continue the work. Post their names and locations, please. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/84 "2012-02-02T17:26:47Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Post their names and locations, please. I don’t do homework, thanks. I would be absolutely baffled that PP is the only organisation providing those services in the whole US. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/85 "2012-02-02T17:35:56Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > I don’t do homework, thanks. > I would be absolutely baffled that PP is the only organisation providing those services in the whole US. So, in other words, you’re talking out your ass. We already knew that, of course, but it’s good of you to confirm it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/86 "2012-02-02T18:10:40Z")
Politicizing breast cancer? Nice work, assholes. I just made a donation to Planned Parenthood, and I’m sure thousands of others are doing the same thing. I wonder how quickly all those manufacturers with the pink packaging will be backpedaling out of that mode. I won’t buy those products any longer. Apparently the Girl Scouts have also disassociated themselves with PP, and won’t put any feminist names in their literature. So fuck them and their cookies. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/87 "2012-02-02T18:30:08Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > I don’t do homework, thanks. > I would be absolutely baffled that PP is the only organisation providing those services in the whole US. The world is a surprising place, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/88 "2012-02-02T18:32:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Apparently the Girl Scouts have also disassociated themselves with PP, and won’t put any feminist names in their literature. So fuck them and their cookies. Can you provide a cite for this? I’m not trying to be an ass. I just looked for information on this, and all I could find was some stories about how the GS denied a rumor that was circulating a few years ago that they were providing sexually explicit information to girls in conjunction with Planned Parenthood. GS has made the news recently for publicly supporting the right of transgender children to join the organization, so it would surprise me if they dissed PP and feminism this way. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/89 "2012-02-02T18:50:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Politicizing breast cancer? Nice work, assholes. I just made a donation to Planned Parenthood, and I’m sure thousands of others are doing the same thing. I wonder how quickly all those manufacturers with the pink packaging will be backpedaling out of that mode. I won’t buy those products any longer. Apparently the Girl Scouts have also disassociated themselves with PP, and won’t put any feminist names in their literature. So fuck them and their cookies. Slight hijack on the Girl Scout thing: The Girl Scouts have never had an association or partnership with PP. Local affiliates of the Scouts have done things (partnered, held workshops, etc), but the national and international organization has never partnered with PP. I don’t know anything about the feminist names claim, but that seems a weird thing for them to have a policy (written or unwritten) over. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/90 "2012-02-02T18:50:53Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Can you provide a cite for this? I’m not trying to be an ass. I just looked for information on this, and all I could find was some stories about how the GS denied a rumor that was circulating a few years ago that they were providing sexually explicit information to girls in conjunction with Planned Parenthood. > > GS has made the news recently for publicly supporting the right of transgender children to join the organization, so it would surprise me if they dissed PP and feminism this way. I’d like a cite as well as the current backlash against girl scouts is how much feminism is in there current set of materials. And since I’m resource coordinator for a service unit, I see all the materials and it’s actually fairly radical, considering its girl scouts. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/91 "2012-02-02T19:09:33Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Slight hijack on the Girl Scout thing: The Girl Scouts have never had an association or partnership with PP. Local affiliates of the Scouts have done things (partnered, held workshops, etc), but the national and international organization has never partnered with PP. I don’t know anything about the feminist names claim, but that seems a weird thing for them to have a policy (written or unwritten) over. I was going by a comment left on the article by someone who is a local Girl Scout whaddyacallem. . .coordinator? Probably not the best source of information. My indignation over SGK’s move carried over, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/92 "2012-02-02T19:41:15Z")
We have always done board break-a-thons in the past to support SGKF. I’m gonna have to find another charity now. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/93 "2012-02-02T20:38:44Z")
From an article in\* The Atlantic\*. > **[Top Susan G. Komen Official Resigned Over Planned Parenthood Cave-In](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/top-susan-g-komen-official-resigned-over-planned-parenthood-cave-in/252405/)** > > Sources with knowledge of the Koman process said recent policies were adopted specifically to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. > [@](#): > > _Sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process said recent policies were adopted specifically to cut funding to Planned Parenthood._ > … > But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new “no-investigations” rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization’s new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is “pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I’ve tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her. Not that everybody didn’t know this already. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/94 "2012-02-02T20:59:55Z")
I’m pro-life, and I think cutting funding to PP is idiotic. For the many reasons posted in this thread, PP is a vitally important resource for women (especially disadvantaged women). I’d prefer they didn’t do abortions, but I recognize that they probably prevent a lot more abortions than they provide due to education, birth control services, etc. And of course all the work they do that is not pregnancy related, e.g. breast cancer and other health screenings. Absolutely pathetic of SGK. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/95 "2012-02-02T21:02:38Z")
Somebody should ask Handel if funding will resume if the “investigation” concludes and no illegalities are found. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/96 "2012-02-02T21:29:21Z")
Handel apparently likes what’s happening: [http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/02/417626/komen-head-claims-response-to-planned-parenthood-decision-is-very-very-favorable/](http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/02/417626/komen-head-claims-response-to-planned-parenthood-decision-is-very-very-favorable/) > [@](#): > > Andrea Mitchell: Your Facebook page has people cutting pink ribbons in half. Your branding is at stake. > > BRINKER: Andrea, all I can tell you is that the responses we are getting are very, very favorable. And SGK’s state affilliates are breaking away–Komen Connecticut will continue to fund PP until at least June. [Greenwich News, Breaking News in Greenwich, CT](http://greenwich.patch.com/articles/komen-ct-planned-parenthood-funding-won-t-be-pulled-568f4ff9#photo-2456064) Handel is either going to be forced to resign, or at the very least, walk back the decision. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/97 "2012-02-02T21:34:05Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I’m pro-life, and I … recognize that they probably prevent a lot more abortions than they provide due to education, birth control services, etc. And of course all the work they do that is not pregnancy related, e.g. breast cancer and other health screenings. Absolutely pathetic of SGK. Thank you, thank you. How can a so-called “pro-life” organization be against something that saves lives and prevents abortions? What a bunch of sick, lying sacks of shit. That said, the backlash is proving to be quite entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/98 "2012-02-02T21:42:52Z")
Would some kind souls help to debunk this: [http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/02/komen-break-with-planned-parenthood/#more-782594](http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/02/komen-break-with-planned-parenthood/#more-782594) Someone posted this on her facebook page. Apparently she’s friends with the author. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/99 "2012-02-02T21:42:54Z")
At least a couple of executives have quit in protest over Planned Parenthood being targeted like this. Komen has annoyed people before in some instances, but this time they may have just gone too far away from their core mission to make a political statement. This does nothing positive for anyone and it’s clear that it’s just part of the Republican mission to crush Planned Parenthood any way they can for any reason they can make up. I can understand that Komen wants to appeal to (or not alienate) as many possible donors as they can and money from pro-lifers also counts, but it compromises their credilibity if they’re seen as putting political considerations ahead of the interests of women and they seem to have gone there in a big way. In that sense, the stem cell thing is arguably worse, but this was a horrendous decision all the way around. Meanwhile Mike Bloomberg says he’s going to give $250,000 to Planned Parenthood, which is the first thing he’s gotten right in some time. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413/100 "2012-02-02T22:05:23Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Would some kind souls help to debunk this: > > [http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/02/komen-break-with-planned-parenthood/#more-782594](http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/02/komen-break-with-planned-parenthood/#more-782594) > > Someone posted this on her facebook page. Apparently she’s friends with the author. From your link: > [@](#): > > A congressional committee has taken the first steps in investigating the Planned Parenthood abortion business over abuses ranging from financial disparities to its compliance with federal regulations on taxpayer funding to concerns that it is covering up cases of sex trafficking. I can’t directly debunk this, but I will say that the sex trafficking charge is suspiciously similar to the bogus accusations that brought down ACORN. Plus, anyone who refers to Planned Parenthood as “the Planned Parenthood abortion business” obviously has an agenda. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/susan-g-komen-cuts-funding-to-pp/611413.md?page=6)