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Top Student News ’11-’12: Viewpoint: Komen Foundation snapped under pressure
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Written by Olivia Perfetti, The Eagle Staff Reporter
What?
The Susan G. Komen Foundation is now concerned with politics?
Isn’t its purpose to improve women’s health?
It’s kind of a complicated issue, but it started last December. Cliff Stearns, a representative from Florida, started an investigation of Planned Parenthood to find out whether the taxpayer money funding PP (for things like breast cancer exams) was being used to provide abortions. However, the investigation was half-hearted and didn’t yield any results.
Then, on January 31st, the Komen Foundation announced its decision not to fund any organization under investigation. Including Planned Parenthood.
Speculation was raised that Karen Handel (former Vice President of the Komen Foundation) was the key troublemaker. Handel is an openly pro-life Christian, and being high-up in the foundation could have given her the edge. However, the Komen foundation had been under a lot of pressure from pro-life organizations all over the nation for some time.
It took less than two days for the Komen foundation to reverse its decision. Thousands of donors all over announced they would stop donating money to the foundation and would instead donate to Planned Parenthood, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who donated $250,000 of his own money.
But, reading between the lines, the statement released by the Komen Foundation is not really a reversal. The exact statement is this:
“We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.” (The Washington Times)
The problem is that it says it will continue to “fund existing grants.” The original statement referred to future contracts. The “reversal” statement basically says that they will let Planned Parenthood ask for money, but may or may not give them the money.
Although the outrage has died down, the issue has certainly not been resolved.
From the words of women nationwide…
The Komen Foundation had better be careful.
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