Komen Damage Control

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Komen for the Cure has apparently reversed their decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

It may be too little too late as the PP brouhaha has resulted in people looking at other aspects of the organization.  The documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc.  opening today won't help.

Update

Komen caved. Or did it?  Greg Sargent says not really.

The question now is what its announcement actually means.

I just got off the phone with a Komen board member, and he confirmed that the announcement does not mean that Planned Parenthood is guaranteed future grants — a demand he said would be “unfair” to impose on Komen. He also said the job of the group’s controversial director, Nancy Brinker, is safe, as far as the board is concerned.

As some were quick to point out, the statement put out by Komen doesn’t really clarify whether Planned Parenthood will actually continue to get money from the group. The original rationale for barring Planned Parenthood was that it was under investigation (a witch-hunt probe undertaken by GOP Rep Cliff Stearns). Komen said today that the group would “amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”

Update II

Good take down of Komen here. Komen no longer owns pink

In fact, the way the foundation goes about fighting breast cancer has made pink a dirty color. There’s even a documentary, “Pink Ribbons Inc.,” that takes the giant nonprofit and its corporate style to task.

Komen’s apparently politically driven decision to stop providing grants for breast cancer prevention services to Planned Parenthood may well spell the end of the “pink-washing.”

That’s what Breast Cancer Action has been calling it for years in its “Think Before You Pink” campaign. That group advocates for research into the root causes of breast cancer, not just the treatment-oriented research and screening message advocated by Komen.

Update III

This from my partner John:

Comments

[Comrade Misfit]

The Komenies will defund Planned Parenthood by refusing to renew grants, one at a time, until they have quietly gotten to where they want to be: Zero funding.

http://snipurl.com/2219qwr

[BJ Bjornson]

I think you're right about this being too little, too late. The {pink} veil has been pulled back to expose some pretty ugly practices for those of us who hadn't paid that close of attention to the organization before, and more seems to come up out of the woodwork every time I look. Very much off my radar for any giving in the future.

Not to mention that their change regarding "criminal, not political" investigations still doesn't seem to have affected Penn State's grant.

[John Ballard]

http://www.angryblacklady.com/2012/02/03/the-most-heroic-response-to-komen-you-will-ever-see/