Has Susan Komen For The Cure Made a Mistake?

Why Komen For The Cure is under fire

Susan Komen Foundation for the cure is receiving a great deal of criticism after announcing that they would no longer be giving money to Planned Parenthood. Although they say that the change isn't politically motivated, many people are outraged at the decision.


Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides early cancer detection, mammograms and family planning services. They provide these services at a discount or even for free to people who can't afford them. If you are a woman and have ever been poor, out of work or looking for a job, the odds are good that you have been to a Planned Parenthood at some point.


Because they provide these crucial services for women who wouldn't otherwise be able to receive them, organizations like Komen for the Cure (the group that makes all of the pink ribbon products) have given them money to cover the costs of providing the services.


Although the Komen Foundation says that the decision isn't politically motivated, many experts believe that they are distancing themselves from Planned Parenthood due to the fact that Planned Parenthood also provides safe, legal abortion services. Although abortion services make up less that 3 percent of their business and are paid for out of customers' pockets, not from donations, Planned Parenthood is often vilified for providing the service at all.


In the wake of the announcement, one of the foundation's top official, Mollie Williams resigned. Here is a quote from The Atlantic.

The decision, made in December, caused an uproar inside Komen. Three sources told me that the organization's top public health official, Mollie Williams, resigned in protest immediately following the Komen board's decision to cut off Planned Parenthood. Williams, who served as the managing director of community health programs, was responsible for directing the distribution of $93 million in annual grants. Williams declined to comment when I reached her yesterday on whether she had resigned her position in protest, and she declined to speak about any other aspects of the controversy.

As part of the backlash by supporters of Planned Parenthood, the Susan Komen website was hacked and the home page image was changed. Take a look:

It seems to me that a foundation whose mission is to promote breast cancer awareness and help women live healthier lives would also support the Planned Parenthood mission. After all, they let KFC use their logo on promotional buckets of chicken.


The Komen Foundation is already feeling the hurt of their decision. Just 24 hours after announcing the change, Planned Parenthood has received over $650,000 in donations from people who were no longer planning to donate to the Komen Foundation.


It's a shame to see a foundation that has done as much good as the Komen Foundation bow to political pressure and cut ties with an organization that does so much to promote womens' health.


What do you think about the decision? Please share your thoughts in the comments.


By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for PhillyJobsBlog and Nexxt, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.