Komen decision to cut donations to Planned Parenthood is shameful

This week, the Susan G. Komen Foundation announced it would stop giving funding to Planned Parenthood, an organization it has had a relationship with since 2005. The decision is said to be made because the Komen Foundation now has a new policy that states they cannot give grants to companies that are being investigated by state, local or federal authorities. Although this makes for a convenient out, the real reason for the cutting of grants seems to come from elsewhere. For many years, the Komen Foundation has been criticized by pro-life advocates for giving money to an organization that offers many services, including abortions, to women like Planned Parenthood.

As stated earlier, this move is meant to be in compliance with a new Komen Foundation rule that says the company cannot donate to entities being investigated. Who is Planned Parenthood being investigated by and for what reason? They are being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R.-Fla.) to see how they spend their money — a tax-related investigation, not a practice-based one. This is a frivolous factor to base the decision to cut funding off on behalf of Komen. Planned Parenthood received $700,000 from the Komen Foundation in 2011, The New York Times reported. In the years prior to those, they received similar amounts of money from the foundation. And now, that is no more.

Despite what many choose to say regarding Planned Parenthood, it offers women services they are entitled to such as breast screenings, subsidized contraceptives, STD testing and prevention and sometimes, abortions. They by no means, however, just do abortions, as many on the pro-life side would like to think. In fact, abortions only account for three percent of their services. By the Komen Foundation choosing to cut funding they may are potentially shooting themselves in the foot. It is possible that with less funding, Planned Parenthood will not be able to perform as many breast cancer screenings. The irony is unsettling.

Women are entitled to their own bodies. They have a right to abortion. No religious beliefs should dictate what a woman can choose to do with her own body.  It is a shame the Komen Foundation cowed in the face of opposition from pro-life advocates and then stated that is was simply obeying its new policy. However, this will not stop Planned Parenthood and similar organizations from providing important services to women.