B&H Publishing Group, a Christian publisher, has discontinued a special pink-covered “Here’s Hope Cancer Awareness Bible.” Proceeds from sales went in part to Susan G. Komen for the Cure — which has affiliates that donate to Planned Parenthood.
“We made a mistake,” explained Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, of which B&H Publishing is a division.
According to Rainer, in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month — October — the publisher released the Cancer Awareness Bible “to place God’s Word into the hands of those suffering through breast cancer” and agreed to donate $1 of each sale to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
When the Christian group learned that some of Komen’s affiliates donated to the abortion provider Planned Parenthood, they decided to pull the Bibles from the market.
“Though we have assurances that Komen’s funds are used only for breast cancer screening and awareness, it is not in keeping with LifeWay’s core values to have even an indirect relationship with Planned Parenthood,” Rainer added. “B&H’s mission to advance the gospel through distribution of God’s Word is unchanged, so we will continue to seek innovative ways that are in keeping with LifeWay’s core values.”
Pro-life groups have long voiced concern about Komen’s connections to Planned Parenthood.
“It’s baffling to me how such a large company could have missed the memo about Komen, which has been published from sea to shining sea,” Susan Tyrrell of Bound4Life said in a plea for B&H Publishing to cease their connection with Komen.
Following the publisher’s decision to pull the Bible from shelves, Tyrrell wrote, “Thank you, Mr. Rainer and LifeWay for doing the right thing.”
Komen explained that LifeWay was a first-year partner that had pledged $25,000 from sales.
“We are sorry to hear that LifeWay has decided to end sales of the Bible, especially since proceeds from partnership were to support national breast cancer programs, with no dollars going to Planned Parenthood programs,” Komen said in a statement.