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Komen: Politics was never an issue

The breast cancer charity steps back from a decision that generated defiance and outrage.

By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press

For leaders of the nation's pre-eminent breast-cancer charity, it was a firestorm they didn't see coming -- and couldn't withstand.

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U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., center, speaks at the Seattle Planned Parenthood branch on Friday in Seattle, Wash. Earlier in the day, Susan G. Komen for the Cure apologized and backed off its rescission of funding to Planned Parenthood’s breast exam services.

John Lok/The Seattle Times/The Associated Press

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SOME FACTS AND NUMBERS RELEVANT TO THE ISSUE

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of reproductive health services in the United States. It has 85 independent affiliates around the U.S.

According to the Associated Press:

• Most of its services -- 71 percent -- are for birth control and testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Abortions made up 3 percent of its services in 2010. Cancer screening accounted for about 15 percent.

• About 80 percent of Planned Parenthood's clients are under 35 and many do not have access to other medical care.

• Planned Parenthood doesn't follow the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, which do not endorse clinical breast exams and recommend mammograms only every other year starting at age 50. Instead, Planned Parenthood does a physical breast exam on any woman of any age as part of a regular physical, and refers for mammograms any women 40 and older.

• Komen paid for just 170,000 of the more than 4 million clinical breast exams Planned Parenthood performed nationwide over the last five years, and just 6,400 of Planned Parenthood's 70,000 mammography referrals in that time.

• The government has long paid Planned Parenthood for services related to cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. The group gets federal and state money for breast cancer screening service through a program for poor and uninsured women.

Abortion

Planned Parenthood says only a relatively small part of its resources -- 3 percent -- are used for abortions.

The organization receives about one-third of its money in government grants and contracts.

Federal law stipulates that public funds cannot be allocated for abortions, but some opponents argue that allocating money to Planned Parenthood for the provision of other medical services "frees up" funds to be re-allocated for abortion.

Breast cancer

In 2007, 202,964 American women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,598 women died from the disease.

Except for skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women. Women in the United States get breast cancer more than any other type of cancer except for skin cancer. It is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in women.

Approximately 1,700 men will also be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die each year.

-- Sources: The Associated Press; Wikipedia; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Friday abandoned plans to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. The dramatic retreat followed a three-day furor that resounded across the Internet, in Congress and -- perhaps most tellingly -- among Komen affiliates who openly rebelled, suggesting the leadership had bowed to anti-abortion pressure.

"We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives," a Komen statement said.

As first reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Komen had adopted criteria excluding Planned Parenthood from future grants for breast-cancer screenings because it was under government investigation, citing a probe launched by a Florida congressman at the urging of anti-abortion groups.

"We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political," Komen said Friday. "That is what is right and fair."

As a result, Komen said, "we will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants."

Komen officials were unavailable for further comment on how they came to change their plans. There was no indication that the organization had come under pressure from its corporate partners. But many of Komen's own affiliates nationwide had objected to cutting off the grants, which totaled $680,000 in 2011. An Aspen, Colo., affiliate announced Thursday that it would defy the new rules and continue grants to its local Planned Parenthood partner.

In addition, Komen was inundated with negative comments via emails, on Twitter and on its Facebook page. Many of the messages conveyed a determination to halt gifts to Komen -- organizer of the popular Race for the Cure events -- because of the decision.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood was reporting an outpouring of donations, large and small, that totaled $3 million between Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon. Planned Parenthood said the funds would be used to expand its breast health services, which provide nearly 750,000 breast exams each year.

Planned Parenthood's president, Cecile Richards, said in a telephone news conference that she was astonished by the flow of donations and the often emotional support expressed for her organization on the Internet.

"This was simply a story, when it broke, it just caught fire," she said. "This kind of political bullying -- folks are just saying, 'Enough.' "

Anti-abortion groups had pressed Komen for years to end its partnership with Planned Parenthood, even to the extent of recalling pink Bibles that were benefiting Komen and boycotting its Race for the Cure events.

Abortion foes applauded earlier this week when the funding cutoff was reported, and were dismayed by Friday's turnaround.

"The Susan G. Komen Foundation has caved in to the demands of radical abortion apologists," said Douglas R. Scott Jr. of Life Decisions International, which had been mulling whether to remove Komen from a "boycott list" of Planned Parenthood partners.

Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, accused Planned Parenthood of employing a "scorched-earth strategy to force compliance with their pro-abortion agenda."

"I don't find it surprising that Komen is dancing around trying to get their way out of this," said Yoest, a breast-cancer survivor. "Who wants to go up against a billion-dollar organization which is perfectly capable of using thug tactics against even their friends?"

In Washington, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he would press ahead with his investigation of Planned Parenthood, including assertions that it has improperly used public funds for abortions.

It's possible that Komen may, in the coming years, find ways of cutting ties with Planned Parenthood by other means. Komen founder and CEO Nancy Brinker, in a news conference Thursday, spoke of shifting more grant money to organizations that provide mammograms themselves -- in contrast to Planned Parenthood's practice of referring women elsewhere for mammograms.

Komen said it was immediately starting an outreach to its affiliates and supporters to get the charity back on track.

"We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue," Komen's statement said. "We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics -- anyone's politics."