I really hate October. It is the month of Halloween, and the month when the Susan G. Komen Foundation mounts its attack against women.
Yes, you heard me right. Not only are we subjected to the sheer ugliness of Jack-o-lanterns, witches, giant cobwebs, and other Halloween nastiness, but we’re also subjected to pink everywhere we look. This pink, an indication of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, would not be a problem, except that about 95% of it is related to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I can’t even buy cat food without donating to this Foundation!
And why is this a problem? Because, behind the scenes, the Susan G. Komen Foundation is “in bed with” Planned Parenthood*. Now, as a Bible-believing Christian, I have major issues with Planned Parenthood over abortion, simply because I believe it’s unacceptable to murder a baby for one’s own convenience or preference. (“Life of the mother” situations are less than 1% of all U.S. abortions, so they really don’t factor into the discussion in general, if we’re being honest.) But even setting that aside for a moment, I have a problem with this. It’s the sheer, selfish politics of it. Abortion is one of the best-known, preventable risk factors for breast cancer. One of the best-known ways to prevent breast cancer is to have lots of babies and breastfeed them for a long time. Yet Planned Parenthood encourages abortion and intentional sterility – and the Susan G. Komen Foundation (which is supposedly seeking to cure breast cancer) supports Planned Parenthood, while turning a profit every year. I don’t know about you, but I find this mighty suspicious. They are taking money to encourage lifestyle choices which lead to breast cancer, then taking money to treat this same cancer?! Sounds like a pure money-making ploy to me. And women are the ones paying the price for all of this disgusting advertising they slap all over everything throughout the entire month of October. Me? During October, I will think anything but pink.
*Komen claims that the funding given to Planned Parenthood is used only for breast cancer research and screening. This may technically be true; however, this simply means that other funding that PP would have used for breast cancer research or screening can instead be diverted to abortions and contraception, a fact that is borne out by the increase in PP’s numbers in these areas during periods when it was receiving funding from Komen.
As far as I am aware, the Breast Cancer Relief Foundation is free of attachment to any undesirable organizations, so if you want to support breast cancer research, screening, and relief, but don’t want to support Planned Parenthood, this could be one good organization to support. (There may be others, as well.)
Wow! I kind of found this site on accident, or maybe not…I was reading a post from Does it Work Wed. and you had made a comment about these cards your mom makes to help kids with chores. SO I clicked on it to see if you had any posted. Well the first post I read was this one. At first I was just insulted about your thoughts on the “pink” issue. Then I kept reading. Thank you so much for making me aware of this. I am a big supporter of the Pro Life movement and have just recently started researching and questioning others. I am currently in a dispute with some people about a pregnancy center. I think their website promotes abortion and I am so upset. I don’t think I ran across your site on accident and I thank you for the heads up
Victoria, thanks for hanging with me long enough to read the whole thing!
And, just so all of my readers know, I am not insensitive to the issue of breast cancer, in general. I had a very dear aunt who died of breast cancer several years ago. I just have a real problem with this particular organization.
As a woman that has been deeply impacted by breast cancer from a very young age I am sadly disturbed by your thoughts on Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I look forward to October. I wear pink often throughout the year and I wear my ribbons often and proudly. But I do make it a point to make an extra effort during the month of October to show my support and spread awareness. If one woman, one girl, one teenager asks me about one of my ribbons or shirts and that spawns another conversation or prompts someone to make an appointment for a mammogram or to do a self exam than I feel that I have provided an amazing service. A recent US research study found that 75% of women studied who died from breast cancer NEVER HAD A MAMMOGRAM or were diagnosed after their very first mammogram. (meaning they probably had a lump large enough to feel thus a mammogram was then ordered)
Breast cancer claimed my great grandmother (paternal) before I was able to meet her in this life. As a young mother many years ago I lost my Nana to breast cancer after suffering and bravery. She was an amazing light and comfort that is missed by me and my family every day. A few short years later my Mom-Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer; she is our family’s only survivor. A few short years after that her Mother (my great grandmother) was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed quickly, but with dignity.
Then the unthinkable happened…my beautiful and amazing Mother was diagnosed. She was only 49 years old. She lived a life full of love and passion for life and her friends and family. Because of our strong family history of breast cancer she lived a healthy lifestyle in hopes of evading our genes. She exercised, ate healthy, meditated, taught yoga, fostered positive energy, volunteered, loved, laughed, learned, taught…..she was amazing and she was my hero. She lost her battle June 26, 2005. She was only 52 years old. I miss her every moment of every day. I was pregnant with my second child when she passed. She was unable to meet 4 of her 8 grandchildren in this life.
So now maybe you can see why it upsets me that you would ever paint an organization that saves thousands of women’s lives every year in such a negative light. I pray every day that I will live to see my great grandchildren. I pray every day for organizations like Susan G. Komen, that they will find a cure for breast cancer so that my neice will live to see her great grandchildren and that the other hundreds of thousands of women that may die of breast cancer will be spared. I think the more than 400,000 women that die globally each year of breast cancer (and their friends and family) gladly support any organization commited to fighting this horrific disease.
The statement below was posted online by the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I think you need to look at the big picture. I think the ethicist said it perfectly “The good that Komen does and the harm that would come to so many women if Komen ceased to exist or ceased to be funded would seem to be a sufficiently proportionate reason” for Catholics to support our funding decisions
Here’s the link to the statement:
(http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content_Binaries/PlannedParenthoodStatement2009.pdf)
March 2009
An open letter about Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and Planned Parenthood
This year, as in the past, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is being criticized by some for funding a handful of women’s health programs run by, or with ties to, Planned Parenthood. I’m writing this letter to explain our position and to correct any misinformation you may have heard about this issue.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure exists for only one reason: to save lives and to end breast cancer forever. In the past 27 years, we’ve invested more than $1.3 billion to accomplish those goals through research and for programs that educate, screen and treat people in communities all around the world.
Early screening through mammograms and education are critical to end the suffering from this disease: 98 percent of women treated for early stage breast cancer, before it spreads, are alive five years later. The widespread use of mammography and heightened public awareness of breast cancer both contribute to these favorable statistics.
And while Komen Affiliates provide funds to pay for screening, education and treatment programs in dozens of communities, in some areas, the only place that poor, uninsured or under-insured women can receive these services are through programs run by Planned Parenthood.
These facilities serve rural women, poor women, Native American women, women of color, and the un- and under-insured. As part of our financial arrangements, we monitor our grantees twice a year to be sure they are spending the money in line with our agreements, and we are assured that Planned Parenthood usesthese funds only for breast health education, screening and treatment programs.
As long as there is a need for health care for these women, we will continue to fund the facilities that meet that need.
Ethicists in the Catholic Church have also examined this issue. One year ago, two Catholic ethicists – Ron Hamel, Ph.D. and Michael Panicola, Ph.D. – examined the moral implications of our funding decision. They concluded that it was morally permissible for the church to be involved with Komen in light of its funding
agreements with Planned Parenthood.
“The fact that some Komen affiliates, at times, provide funding to Planned Parenthood specifically and solely for breast health services cannot on the face of it be construed as wrongdoing,” the ethicists wrote. “The good that Komen does and the harm that would come to so many women if Komen ceased to exist or ceased to be funded would seem to be a sufficiently proportionate reason” for Catholics to support
our funding decisions (emphasis added).
Another piece of misinformation being spread by many who criticize Komen for the Cure for its Planned Parenthood grants is that abortion causes breast cancer. Well conducted research consistently fails to support this claim. We agree with the bulk of scientific evidence – from the National Cancer Institute, Harvard, a rigorous study in Denmark and from Oxford University – that there is no conclusive link between
breast cancer and induced abortion or miscarriage.
It is important for women to receive accurate information about risk factors for breast cancer. There are steps a woman can take to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer (for example, maintaining a healthy weight) as well as important steps every woman should take to make sure that, if she does develop breast cancer, it is detected and treated as soon as possible. A complete list of risk factors and screening
recommendations can be found on our website http://www.komen.org.
More detailed information is on our web site at http://www.komen.org. We invite you to review the documents there, and we thank you again for taking time to investigate our position on this issue.
Eric Winer, M.D.
Chief Scientific Advisor
Susan G. Komen for the Cure®
Bottom line….I’m wearing my pink this month. And this month…I’m buying pink too!
Emily, I am so very sorry for your losses. I don’t know if you read my comment, where I mentioned that a very dear aunt of mine died of breast cancer. The issue of breast cancer research is not one I have a problem with! What I do have a problem with is that probably 95% or better of the funds raised this month for “breast cancer research” are going to a Foundation that uses some of those same funds to knowingly fund an organization that actually encourages behaviors that increase women’s risk of breast cancer. In that light (and, yes, I’ve read their statement), I do not believe that they will find a cure, and I do believe that they are causing thousands of women irreparable harm, as they help encourage them to live lifestyles that will lead to the development of breast cancer in many of them. I am not opposed to helping women, but I believe that Komen is harming, at least as much as it is helping, women.
If we truly want to help women win this battle, one of the very best things we can do is encourage them to have and nurse lots of babies!
Rachel,
Thanks so much for your post. Honestly, I’ve always been opposed to the “pink” and didn’t even know about the Planned Parenthood donations. My primary reason for this is that it seems to exploit women who’ve had breast cancer by encouraging consumers to buy products with anything pink. Unfortunately, often only a small portion goes to breast cancer research (I had a good link to this and I forget where it is…).
Also, perhaps I’ve grown more cynical but I doubt the goal is to even cure breast cancer. With all the millions of dollars already in donations (if not billions), there aren’t major research studies that show how to prevent breast cancer BESIDES getting a mammogram? How about some honest research studies that look at the number of breast-fed babies, as you suggested, and our diets, especially with all the processed food we eat. The rates of breast cancer are absolutely astronomical and, as true research would probably reveal, related to the major lifestyle changes in the past few decades.