PINK RIBBONS

Women's health organization Planned Parenthood has been under investigation several times in the past, as they are often accused of using federal funds for abortion services (which isn't legal). Yet every past investigation, as I'm sure the current one will show, has shown that they have been following the letter of the law. The current investigation is being led by Florida representative Cliff Sterns (R).

He must be running for re-election.

Anyway, it's because of this current investigation that the famed breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen Foundation announced this week that it will cease funding Planned Parenthood. Many have accused the organization of bowing to Pro-Life group pressure, because they are an abortion provider. While that may be a difficult charge to prove, it does seem very suspicious.

Komen Founder and Chief Executive Nancy Brinker has said "This has been a contentious issue . . . Our position has been lost . . . Our only mission is to design treatments and cures for this disease and to take care of women in need of services."

However, she also went on to suggest that Komen money might be better spent elsewhere, saying: "You have to be sure you are granting to the right people." 

Hmm, that sounds fairly accusatory, to me.

Brinker could have really done the right thing here, and let everyone know that money forwarded to Planned Parenthood from Komen was specifically used so that women, especially those without health insurance, could received breast cancer screenings.

But then, I suppose that would have been too easy for her to do.

*EDITORS NOTE - 

In the time since this post was originally written, Komen reversed its original decision to halt funding of Planned Parenthood.

Perhaps someone at Komen read The Poop and thought better.

While this is good news, it not only calls into question the integrity of the decision makers of this organization, but makes me wonder about the integrity of any charity that gets so big (as Komen has), that it then uses the disease it represents as a marketing and political tool. 

I'm sure this isn't going to be the last word on this issue.