In the wake of this week’s announcement that Susan G. Komen for the Cure will no longer be awarding grants to Planned Parenthood, the breast cancer organization’s donations have gone up 100 percent in the last two days.
On a Thursday conference call Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of the Komen Foundation, told reporters that the organization is “singularly focused” on combating breast cancer, and that the politics of the decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood has been distracting from their mission.
Nevertheless, since cutting ties, Brinker announced that Komen’s donations have gone up in the last two days — by 100 percent.
“Our donations are up 100 percent in the past two days. With all of the emotion around these issues — which we understand, we get emotional too, we do this every single day of our lives,” Brinker said, explaining that they do not make decisions to be popular, they make them to fight cancer.
While pro-choicers believe the decision to sever the relationship was based in politics, Komen continues to argue that the decision was based on internal policy changes which dictate more stringent criteria for grants — which Planned Parenthood does not meet, including the fact that Planned Parenthood is under congressional investigation and does not offer on-site screening, having to refer patients for mammograms, treatment and diagnosis elsewhere.
“We regret that these new policies have impacted some longstanding grantees, such as Planned Parenthood, but want to be absolutely clear that our grant-making decisions are not about politics,” Komen said in a statement Wednesday. “Throughout our 30 year history, our priority has always been and will continue to be the women we serve. As we move forward, we are working to ensure that there is no interruption or gaps in services for the women who need our support most in the fight against breast cancer.”
Since its founding in 1982 Komen has invested more than $1.9 billion in breast cancer treatment and research.
