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The Susan G. Komen foundation has reversed a controversial decision not to renew funding for some Planned Parenthood projects, the group said in a statement Friday.

"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," the statement said. "We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."

Planned Parenthood said Tuesday that the foundation had "succumbed to political pressure" by cutting its funding for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood amid increased scrutiny by Congress over how Planned Parenthood provides abortion services.

The decision triggered strong emotions.

In Washington, at least 22 Senate Democrats signed a letter calling on Komen to reconsider its decision.

CREDO, which describes itself as the largest corporate donor to Planned Parenthood, said Thursday that 250,000 of its members had signed a petition urging the Komen Foundation to reverse its decision.

"The move is clearly connected to attempts by Republicans in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood," the organization said in a statement. "In responding to questions about its decision, the foundation cited as its rationale a sham 'investigation' into Planned Parenthood launched by Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns." who the group called "one of the most militant anti-choice members of Congress."

In September, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, on which the Florida congressman sits, began an investigation into Planned Parenthood over the organization's "compliance with federal restrictions on funding abortions."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also announced that he planned to give $250,000 to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America to help make up for the loss of funding from the Komen foundation, his office said Thursday. Komen Foundation reverses funding decision of Planned Parenthood

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...the backlash has been powerful, particularly among the many professional women who until now have valued and supported both charities and suddenly feel betrayed. And on Thursday night, the San Francisco Bay Area affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure joined with six other Komen affiliates in California in eloquently opposing the national organization's decision. These voices, and the financial support they represent, need to remain strong on behalf of the women with no health insurance whose care makes up 97 percent of Planned Parenthood's work -- a fact often drowned out by the political static over the 3 percent involving abortions.

Komen gave Planned Parenthood almost $700,000 in 2011 to provide poor women with breast cancer screenings who otherwise would not have received them. About 170,000 women benefitted.

In 2010, Komen CEO Nancy Brinker, sister of the late Susan G. Komen {a major Republican donor} hired Karen Handel as senior vice president for public policy. When Handel ran for governor of Georgia, she won Sarah Palin's support by describing herself as "staunchly and unequivocally pro-life."

At Komen, she launched a full review of grants and declared a policy of denying funding to any organization under investigation by federal, state or local authorities. Imagine how shocked, shocked, she was when Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns soon after announced a congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood.

This is the same Stearns who was ridiculed this past spring for filing an amendment that forces all 9/11 first responders requesting compensation for injuries to first be checked against the terrorist watch list to make sure they're not terrorists. The Stearns whose stated goal is to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding, "now and forever," even though the Hyde Amendment already prohibits federal funding from being used for abortions.

Planned Parenthood has meticulously kept any federal dollars as well as Komen grants separate from these services. The Health and Human Services inspector general and state Medicaid programs routinely conduct audits of Planned Parenthood. The findings are a matter of public record. The congressional investigation is purely a political tool to cut health care for poor women.

Both Komen and Planned Parenthood over the years have saved lives and helped women who had no place else to turn for care. What a tragedy that right-wing politics has intervened in what should be common cause. http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_19879960 many people, breast cancer screening means a mammogram. But for millions of poor, mostly young, women who visit Planned Parenthood, it is usually just a physical exam by the only health professional they may ever see.

Those clinical breast exams are controversial — government advisers don’t endorse them. Yet for some, this simple exam has helped spot breast cancer. And Susan G. Komen for the Cure isn’t the only group paying Planned Parenthood to do them — the government does, too. Komen actually funds relatively few.

Surprises like these are emerging about both groups in the dustup over Komen’s decision to bar Planned Parenthood from future grants because of a probe spurred by anti-abortion groups. The decision was reversed on Friday after a huge backlash, with critics saying Komen was hurting the very women it aims to serve.

They are women such as Tina Love, an independent filmmaker in Santa Barbara, Calif., whose sister-in-law is famed breast surgeon Dr. Susan Love. Four years ago, when she was 41, Tina Love went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Santa Barbara.

“I had a lump and I didn’t have health insurance,” she explained. The agency sent her for a free mammogram, which led to her cancer being diagnosed and treated.

It’s not known exactly how many cancers Planned Parenthood has found. But just last June, Komen said screenings it paid for caught 177 cancers over the last five years.

Some things you may not know about Planned Parenthood:

— 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.

- 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.

In women who may not see other doctors, “we are encouraging breast self-awareness” so that if a lump is found, they’ll seek help, Dr. Vanessa Cullins, a vice president with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said.

It worked for Michele Azzaro, 45, of Dallas, who first went to Planned Parenthood when she found a lump back in her 20s. It turned out not to be cancerous, and a mammogram provided through Planned Parenthood ruled out cancer again last year.

Azzaro is unemployed and has no insurance, and has relied on Planned Parenthood for cholesterol tests and pretty much all her medical needs for more than two decades.

“Without having their services, I honestly don’t know what I would do,” she said. “I’m grateful they’ve been there for me and millions of other women like me.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/surprises-in-kom
en-planned-parenthood-dustup-how-cancer-screening-is-done-and-who-pays-for-it/2012/02/03/gIQAUdWpnQ_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop]

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Just as Komen’s best interests and the fight against breast cancer have always been foremost in every aspect of my work, so too are these my priorities in coming to the decision to resign effective immediately. While I appreciate your raising a possible severance package, I respectfully decline. It is my most sincere hope that Komen is allowed to now refocus its attention and energies on its mission.

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