Salon, on the Koman distancing from Planned Parenthood, well written, here. More detail, Forbes. Online op-eds, here and here. An op-ed excerpt, with links omitted, from Slate coverage:
The existence of breast-cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood has always been a thorn in the anti-choice side. Most of Planned Parenthood's services are related to the choice to be sexually active---contraception, STD screening and treatment, cervical cancer screening---making it easy to write off those services as unnecessary if you follow the strict abstinence-only prescription the Christian right has for women. Breast cancer, however, can strike the lifelong virgin, the married woman who only has sex for procreation, and the dirty fornicator (i.e. the vast majority of American women) alike. Because of this, anti-choicers have tried to create a rift between women's health advocates who focus on breast cancer and those who focus on reproductive health concerns below the waist. Today, they had a victory with Komen's act of cowardice.
No matter how much anti-choicers wish otherwise, it's not feasible to create an approach to women's health that separates good girl concerns from bad girl concerns. For instance, many women land in gynocologist's offices seeking contraceptive services and cervical-cancer screenings, and doctors use that opportunity to teach the art of breast self-exam. As noted in my previous post on the Santorums' pregnancy troubles, even the world of the hated abortion provider and the much-vaunted obstetrician can't be so easily separated, as the latter is often called upon to have knowledge of pregnancy termination in case of a medical emergency.
In the end, the grant money is less important than the symbolism of Komen buying into the conservative myth of good-girl health care vs. bad-girl health care. In reality, women's health care can only work if it's comprehensive health care. Komen has already been under serious scrutiny by those who argue that the organization cares more about shoring up their image than making real progress in the fight for women's health, and with this move today, they proved their critics right.
From the end of the Salon coverage [as link above]:
Regardless of whether the Komen Foundation pulled grants “because they caved to anti-choice pressure or because of the political leanings of their VP,” says activist Jessica Valenti, founder of Feministing.com, “the result is the same — women’s health and lives are going to suffer as a result.” That’s especially true for low-income women who are most dependent on Planned Parenthood’s services.
Feminist activist and author Amanda Marcotte points out that that antiabortion movement “has long opposed health care reform, even though health care reform will prevent many deaths from breast cancer by keeping women with cancer from being squeezed out of their insurance coverage.” Given that, it should come as no surprise that anti-choicers would campaign the Komen Foundation to defund Planned Parenthood — even if all they’re preventing are mammograms.
Despite the myth that Planned Parenthood is first and foremost an abortion clinic, pregnancy terminations account for only 3 percent of its services; on the other hand, as the Daily Kos reports, “cancer screening and prevention comprises 17 percent.”
Coverage from St. Louis, online here:
The reports state that Planned Parenthood attributed the move to pressure from anti-abortion activists. A key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress, the reports noted.
“It’s important because it shows we are making a difference and having an impact,” Sarah Swaykus, program coordinator for the Respect Life Apostolate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, said upon hearing initial news reports.
Maureen Kane, parish and elementary program coordinator for the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate, said she was pleased that the Komen organization recognized the inappropriateness of working with Planned Parenthood and that she hopes “they can direct their attention to continuing to help people dealing with cancer.”
The Respect Life Apostolate previously issued a statement acknowledging the beneficial work of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, in the area of breast cancer detection, prevention, research and treatment. Due to its policy allowing affiliates to offer financial support to abortion-providing facilities, its denial of studies showing abortion as a cause of breast cancer, and its endorsement of embryonic stem cell research, the Respect Life Apostolate neither supports nor encourages participation in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the chief fundraiser for the organization.
The Apostolate did note that public records show that Missouri affiliates were not among Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliates that have provided grants to local Planned Parenthood chapters for breast health care services as recently as 2009.
The St. Louis Affiliate of Komen has a statement on its website that it “has never granted any funds to Planned Parenthood and neither has our national organization, so none of the money raised in St. Louis have ever funded a Planned Parenthood grant.” It added that the “Susan G. Komen for the Cure St. Louis Affiliate has a very specific promise — to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality of care for all and energizing science to find the cures. Our focus remains on the organization’s vision to simply create a world without breast cancer.”
According to Catholic News Service, Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the United States, but it also offers offer free breast exams and mammograms, considered key to early detection of breast cancer. While Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliate said they intended that their contributions go toward these exams, they cannot control how funds are allocated at Planned Parenthood.
A WaPo blog, here; an NPR blog, here; National Journal, here; Nonprofit Quarterly, here.
__________UPDATE___________
As of 12:40 pm, central time, the Koman blog site is still unavailable. I tried for it in two browsers, with the same result. Duck-and-Cover? It may equate to a nuclear event.
2:20 pm, central time, still unable to load the site.
__________FURTHER UPDATE_________
By an email and from a blog comment, there is CREDO Action, on the Koman - Planned Parenthood situation.
This link, also, here for the CREDO homepage.