S.G.Komen for Cure caves to Right wingers - no grants For PP

[EmmieJ]

The Komen Foundation actually spends relatively little on research for cures for breast cancer. They sure spend a lot of money on pink ribbons and other pink promotional items though. They are not really interested in finding a cure for cancer, because if they helped find such a cure, that would put them out of a fairly lucrative business.

Planned Parenthood has consistently been providing health and reproductive services to women, regardless of their ability to pay, for decades. I went to PP as a scared 17-year old when I thought I might be pregnant. Thank goodness it was back in the late 70's, before judgmental jerks started picketing outside of PP offices. I was given confidential pregnancy testing at a nominal fee, no questions asked and no judgments made. Over the years, I received other services from different PP offices, primarily birth control and gyn exams. I hold them in the highest regard.

The silver lining is that the Komen Foundation outed themselves spectacularly with their decision to withdraw funding from PP. Thousands of people who have donated to them in the good faith belief they were a decent organization have now had their eyes opened, and won't donate again.

[prairiemuffin]

"Top Komen Official Resigns, Site Hacked, Planned Parenthood Donations Surge"

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/02/ ... surge.html

Damn, I really wish I would've seen the banner change (picture of it in link)

[tingeofginge]

Anyone have a source for the fact that they pay for mammograms by third parties? I'm getting that stupid fucking argument on fb as well, and I want to set them straight.

[emmiedahl]

This might help.

http://www.komenie.org/assets/controver ... d-2011.pdf

[tingeofginge]

This might help.

http://www.komenie.org/assets/controver ... d-2011.pdf

Thank you!

[Rosa]

They're still granting money to Penn State, which of course is also under federal investigation - for the coverup of sexual abuse of children.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/kom ... penn-state

[Belle0000]

Karen Handel should probably get a new PR person to run her twitter. What a classy retweet:

ETA: This tweet appeared last night and was promptly deleted a few minutes later.

[Mama Mia]

Wow, their Ambassador Binker woman who is getting all bitchy and defensive on fb is quite the umm... odd combination of looks. Waaayyyyyyyyyy too tight a facelift / botox combined with bright lipstick and an FLDS compound type pompadour.

It always makes me laugh when people try to give passionate speeches but they can't move their face :lol:

There is a link in one of the comments that shows the salaries and budget breakdown for the organization - they certainly pay their executives a HUGE amount of money !

[Buzzard]

Karen Handel should probably get a new PR person to run her twitter. What a classy retweet:

ETA: This tweet appeared last night and was promptly deleted a few minutes later.

Ugh. She was so good on the county commission here in Atlanta...

[demgirl]

I am gladdened, if somewhat surprised, to discover how many people are deeply, deeply pissed off about this move. http://jezebel.com/5881754/susan-g-kome ... -nightmare

[bananacat]

I've always thought the "save the boobies" stuff was maybe just a teensy bit insensitive to women who had mastectomies and essentially sacrificed their breasts to save their lives, but I was never too hard on them because I thought they at least had good intentions. But now I can say that I will never donate to SGK unless there are some big changes, and I won't even support campaigns that give money to them, like the Yoplait one. Instead, I'll buy some other brand of yogurt and then donate money to either PP or ACS.

[Sprocket]

Karen Handel should probably get a new PR person to run her twitter. What a classy retweet:

ETA: This tweet appeared last night and was promptly deleted a few minutes later.

I remember her. She ran for Governor here in GA -- and lost, obviously. Color me surprised that she would be behind this.

[zoestercoaster]

A bitter, cynical part of me wonders if there would have been as big an uproar if SGK was focused primarily on, say, ovarian or cervical cancer, and pulled their funding.

[theologygeek]

Komen is nothing more than a business. They don't care one lick about prevention or even a cure in my opinion. They care about branding and making money.

Yup, yup, yup. I can't stand them.

[Stickers]

:clap: I've hated the whole "pink for the cure thing" for years, it's all a scam. And Planned Parenthood has gotten so many donations.

It's truly a blast watching this go down.

[Witsec7]

Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickeled and Dimed) wrote a great expose of the Komen Foundation called Pink Inc. She started it while she was undergoing treatment for BC.

[FireIsCatching89]

New documentary on them- I think it opens tomorrow! I live in a small town, so any FJers who live in large cities want to see it and tell me if it's any good? I hate pinkwashing, especially because I saw my grandmother die of metasticized breast cancer when I was in middle school. It's not a cutesy condition; it's ugly and people DIE from it.

Sorry for just the link, I don't know how to embed vids.

[Constance Vigilance]

Also, re: mammograms. Some PPs do offer them, it varies locally.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppwaco ... -28753.htm

So all the "PP DOES NOT DO MAMMOGRAMS" people are lying. As usual for them.

ETA: However, physical breast exams are the primary and most useful screening method, and PP does 750,000 of those a year (1000s of which were paid for by Komen). So the mammograms issue is just more twisting and deceit by the wingnuts.

[LucySnowe]

:clap: I've hated the whole "pink for the cure thing" for years, it's all a scam. And Planned Parenthood has gotten so many donations.

It's truly a blast watching this go down.

I didn't know about the scam stuff before but now I do and I am really happy that this has blown up in the way it has. PP is always being vilified and attacked (the one that opened in the last place I lived in the states was always being hammered with frivolous accusations/lawsuits), and I am pleased at the support it's now getting - and the fact that I've seen little in the MSM that believes the Komen 'it wasn't political at all' stance.

Cannot wait to see if Komen defends their Penn State funding. Thanks to whoever provided that link. But then, right wing nutjobs always manage to wriggle out of hypocrisy (hey Newt, looking at you).

Not sure how I feel about the abortion issue being sidetracked by breast cancer but frankly, I think a lot more people are going to actively support bc awareness than abortion rights. Also, this is highlighting how poor/rural women have few options. (Wasn't it one of the Dakotas that had something like one low-income clinic at one point?) So I'll take what I can get.

ed for riffle. (but maybe 'notjobs' works as well....)

[SpeshulTaterTot]

I do wear a pink ribbon in memory of my mom, but I've always had a bad feeling about Komen. They're nowhere near as big in Germany as they are in the States, and over here, everyone has health insurance that pays for check-ups and mammograms, so maybe that's why all this has passed me by until now. I hope I'll get the chance to watch that movie, it looks very interesting. Watching the trailer makes me very glad I decided against asking for donations to Komen when my mom died, and for donations to the breast cancer center at the hospital where she was treated instead.

[LucySnowe]

Apologies for a close-to-double-post but having just seen a 'donating to PP means freeing up their money to do more abortions' argument, I thought other people might be interested in this debunking of five myths about PP:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html

[Peas n carrots]

I've never liked Komen that much, or other mega-charities...last year running the marathon I supported a local charity called Rape Victims Advocates, and nearly 100% of the money raised went to their services.

Last night as I was walking to my redbox to return a movie, I overheard a woman talking to her companion behind me how she donated $$ to PP and put it in Susan Komen's name LOL. I wanted to turn around and give her a hug. Next paycheck I plan on giving a donation...was thinking to put it in Michelle Duggar's name.

[slickcat79]

I remember her. She ran for Governor here in GA -- and lost, obviously. Color me surprised that she would be behind this.

Oh, yeah. Because there was nothing political about SGK's decision to pull funding in the first place :roll:

[kpmom]

I see a group of senators wrote to SGK to ask them to reconsider. All Dems and an Independent. Not an R among 'em.

[stacyf]

Looks like they have reconsidered. No article I can find, just the ticker on MSNBC.