If you’ve been following the news, you probably know that last Tuesday, Susan B. Komen for the Cure pulled breast exam funds from Planned Parenthood for political reasons, namely the fact that the anti-abortion activist group Americans United for Life released a 30-page report that accused the family planning provider of misusing federal funds, failing to report child sex abuse, assisting sex traffickers and a host of other illegal activities. This report put Planned Parenthood under investigation. These allegations are not new, however, as anti-abortion activists groups like this have long criticized Planned Parenthood over the fact that they offer abortions in some of their clinics.
This highly controversial move by Susan G. Komen prompted huge controversy among Planned Parenthood supporters and the general public.
Senator Barbara Boxer disapproved of Susan G. Komen’s decision immensely. “I was perplexed and troubled to see the decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut off funding for life-saving breast cancer screenings through Planned Parenthood because of a political witch hunt by House Republicans. I truly hope that they will reconsider this decision and put the needs of women first,” Boxer said in a statement.
And after a severe backlash via social media and a huge influx of funds to Planned Parenthood from outside sources, Susan B. Komen for the Cure announced on Friday that they will continue to fund Planned Parenthood’s breast exam procedures.
In a recent press release, Susan G. Komen officials apologized for their decision, explaining it was a decision based on criteria that had been set forth by the organization long ago for supplying grants. This criteria stated that Susan G. Komen would not fund organizations that were under investigation.
“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,” said the press release. “The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not […]. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood.”