In a statement released Friday morning, Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced that it has reversed its decision to stop awarding grants to the abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
Citing concerns over the political uproar resulting from the funding change, the breast cancer foundation apologized for the decision and explained that it was never their intention to punish Planned Parenthood. (RELATED: Full coverage of Planned Parenthood)
“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,” read a statement from the Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker. “The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.”
According to Komen, the organization was merely trying to fulfill their duty to donors to not fund organizations under investigation — they say they are going to amend their policy to make it so that the investigations must be criminal and not political.
They added that the only goal is to focus on the fight against breast cancer — a fight without a political ideology.
“Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer,” the statement read. “Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. 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.”
“We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics — anyone’s politics,” they added.
The board and Brinker explained that this afternoon they will be putting their energies into getting back on track with their mission.
“We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve,” they added, concluding by thanking their supporters.