Komen Reverses Decision; Religious Right Disgusted

Earlier this week, the media reported that breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen For the Cure was ending breast health grants to Planned Parenthood. A public relations firestorm erupted, culminating in a letter from twenty-six Democratic senators to Komen CEO Nancy Brinker, urging her to reconsider. On Friday, Susan G. Komen For the Cure announced that it has reversed that decision and will continue to fund Planned Parenthood.

As you can imagine, the Religious Right was not amused.

- In a February 3rd press release by the Family Research Council, FRC Director for the Center of Human Dignity Jeanne Monahan said that it would be "heartbreaking" for breast cancer victims if Planned Parenthood "bullied" Komen into weakening their standards. She expressed dismay that Planned Parenthood allegedly took Susan G. Komen For the Cure and "demonize[d] it overnight for simply making their grants results-oriented." (See www[dot]frc[dot]org/newsroom/frc-responds-to-susan-g-komens-reconsideration-of-abortion-neutral-stance)

- At the Bound 4 Life Moral Outcry blog, Susan Michelle insisted urged observers not to "get caught up in a war of words" between Komen and Planned Parenthood. She insisted that Christians are "literally seeing spiritual warfare in ways that some only see through eyes of discernment in a spiritual sense," sharing a provocative quote from Ephesians 6:12. Amusingly, Michelle compared the Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle to pink robots. (See bound4life[dot]com/blog/2012/02/03/finding-peace-in-the-komen-vs-planned-parenthood-spiritual-war)

"...it’s interesting to me how every time Planned Parenthood gets threatened they manage to get even the US government on their side and make enough noise that they end up with something just short of a congressional medal. If we see with spiritual eyes, we will see this goes so much deeper than a tug-of-war between two women’s organizations."

- In a commentary at the National Review Online, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly claimed that Komen gave into "a relentless barrage of political bullying." Daly described Komen's reversal as "political correctness ... running amok."(See www[dot]nationalreview[dot]com/corner/290143/komen-foundation-was-bullied-left-jim-daly

- In a statement at the National Right to Life website, Carol Tobias criticized Planned Parenthood for launching "a shrill online campaign to bring Komen to its knees by bullying the organization into submission." Tobias insisted that Planned Parenthood is in the "business" of abortion, not breast cancer, and discouraged Susan G. Komen For the Cure and other cancer research groups from funding Planed Parenthood. (See www[dot]nrlc[dot]org/press_releases_new/Release020312.html)