This past week, I couldn’t help but follow the controversy surrounding the Susan G. Komen Foundation in spite of my own antipathy towards the color pink. I heartily support battling cancer in all its forms; however, I just prefer greens and blues in my life. Reds make me anxious.
Blame this on the color of choice of editing writing, or the fact that I have called Missouri, an unabashedly red state, home for much of my life. Nonetheless, any red hue sets me on edge. Yet, while in Chicago this past weekend, I let my guard down.
Standing in the kitchen with my brother’s fiancée and a married woman who was a friend of the family (I will call them Shelley and Kelly, respectively) we discussed a cartoon by Scott Stantis in the Chicago Tribune. In this editorial cartoon, Stantis depicts an anthropomorphic pink ribbon drop-kicking a fetus into a trashcan labeled “Planned Parenthood.” What is the cartoon saying about the services of Planned Parenthood? Is Stantis trying to portray the Komen Foundation as a heartless co-conspirator running with the pro-choice crowd? We never discussed those subjects, and I am to blame for this. As the only male in the conversation, I was worried about disagreeing with either woman. Oh, and I was standing next to Benedict Arnold.
Kelly, the friend of the family, and an older woman, took the expected, Midwestern conservative stance. She talked about how she was pro-life, and had no idea that the Komen Foundation supported abortion. I tried to chime in about the mammogram services they were funding, and how the Komen Foundation really supported its own cause, the battle against breast cancer. I didn’t want to fight too hard, since I had no numbers to support my claims and most of my information came from this Jezebel article, where, I must be honest, the comments by OKFineFrank at the end were the most fascinating part for me. No offense at all intended for the author, Ms. Ryan, but it’s hard to compete with a tenacious, obnoxious commentator.
I also thought I had an ally next to me, in Shelley. She is an intelligent, religious modern woman who, as a young adult, has begun a career as an educator. I figured that her personal feelings could be either pro-life or pro-choice, but assumed politically, it was a given that Shelley was pro-choice. When both women agreed that they could never participate in a walk again, I nodded along, interested at how they could come to the same decision by different principles. When Kelly elaborated that it was because the Komen Foundation had waffled and pledged once again to give money to Planned Parenthood, Shelley continued to agree, and I had a sinking feeling. I realized I had a redcoat and a turncoat on my hands.
Regretfully, I retreated from the battle, with the phrase, “you don’t have a uterus, so you don’t get an opinion,” ringing in my ears. To their credit, neither Kelly nor Shelley said this to me. A version of that gem was in the comment thread following the Jezebel article. The best part: it was said by someone claiming to be a man (Rawr84 if you want to hunt for it).
Since when does anatomy dictate how informed an individual can be? Can ignorant people with blue eyes make whatever laws they want about blue eyes? Does not having male genitalia bar you from having an opinion on male genitalia, much less voting on any laws regarding them? Just as importantly, why attack anyone on what they lack physically, when what they lack mentally is the real problem?
If Mitt Romney can put his two cents in, then I need to find the cojones to stick up for my beliefs too. That man believes that the “very poor” have a safety net (held up by, I can only assume, Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy). What else has he deluded himself about? I am ashamed by my own silence, when the opinions of the uninformed are so loud. Dividing up, men against women, Republicans against Democrats, redcoats versus revolutionaries, and yelling at each other across battle lines solves nothing. Rather, I want to believe that standing in the kitchen with the people you love and respect, having a rational discussion might succeed where inflammatory speech has not. I just don’t know, though, because I lacked both a uterus and a tongue.
Update 2/8/12:
The Komen Foundation “exists for only one reason: to save lives and to end breast cancer forever.”
http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content/Footer/MediaCenter/planned%20parenthood%20winer-09.pdf
As far as that goal is concerned, and you can read more at that link, it appears that it insures that the funds it gives/gave to Planned Parenthood are used specifically for furthering that goal among the impoverished. It would appear that mammograms are NOT given at Planned Parenthood sites, but other cancer-combating services are.
Thank you to all the fact-checkers.
John.
Money is fungible. Better efficiency giving to the organizations who specialize in your mission.
Hey, to everyone who caught my mistake, thank you. The Komen Foundation “exists for only one reason: to save lives and to end breast cancer forever.”
http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content/Footer/MediaCenter/planned%20parenthood%20winer-09.pdf
As far as that goal is concerned, and you can read more at that link, it appears that it insures that the funds it gives/gave to Planned Parenthood are used specifically for furthering that goal among the impoverished. It would appear that mammograms are NOT given at Planned Parenthood sites, but other cancer-combating services are.
PP doesn’t do mammograms. Komen pushes screening including mammograms. It would seem reasonable that they’d want to put their money in a place more consonant with their mission.
The reason for the fuss was that Komen seemed to be judging abortion. That’s heresy and heresy must be quashed immediatelyand with all available force. Or it might spread.
I personally believe that anyone with strong feelings on this issue should really check their own behavior. The reality is that the Komen foundation is a charity. They get money for free, and then they give it away, for free. The people who donate money are doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. If the donors to the charity made it known that they no longer wanted their funds (in however small measure) going to planned parenthood, that was frankly up to them, and up to the Komen foundation to either accept the suggestion, or run the risk… Read more »
Wait… so people who agreed with Komen’s withdrawal of funds were rightly ‘expressing their preference’, but people who disagreed are trying to “FORCE” their views on a charity?
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. Either ALL Komen contributors get to voice their opinion, or none of them do. Which will it be?
Copyleft, maybe you are comfortable never trying to put yourself in your opponents shoes, but I believe it’s a useful tool and try to use it regularly. I also like to give people the benefit of the doubt (something you might benefit from). So when the opponents of Planned Parenthood tell me they view abortion as murder, I take their statements at face value. Please consider this for a moment. People who disagree with abortion honestly believe it to be murder. If that is truly where they are coming from (and I see no reason to doubt them), then their… Read more »
Some Guy. Might be grandstanding, but it may have a purpose. Such as demonstrating a separation from abortion at a high level. It may be that it does, or may have prior to the current Big Hit, look at the abortion connections of its grantees. But if its concern is to put the most money it can into detection and screening, it will choose organizations which do as little else as possible, consonant with getting good results. The rest of your hypos are not serious. Everybody who despises, say, capital punishment pays state sales tax, if any, without an instant’s… Read more »
This is grandstanding, pure and simple. There is no way that the Komen Foundation can totally distance itself from organizations that provide abortions. Is it going to boycott all health care facilities that provide abortions, give the cold shoulder to every doctor who may refer a patient to an abortion clinic? Is it going to keep at arm’s length all of the women’s health institutions that also support abortion access? Lots of luck getting very far in the field of women’s health. In some states, state welfare vouchers can be used to pay for an abortion. Is the Komen Foundation… Read more »
My wife is a doctor who does research in women’s health issues. From what she tells me, the Komen foundation is a powerhouse that has done a lot to help fight breast cancer, but it also has its own interests that sometimes get in the way of its own effectiveness in fighting cancer. Its strategy may not be the best in all circumstances. Komen emphasizes early detection and lots of screening, and spends a lot of its money on raising awareness, both of breast cancer and of Komen’s own branding. (Branding isn’t something that only for-profit groups care about.) The… Read more »
John.
Well, that wasn’t hard. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/planned-parenthood-challenged-on-purported-mammogram-claim/2011/03/30/AFjCFO3B_story.html
There are others, but I figured this would be a start.
John. Heard it from a Komen supporter on the radio. Presume it’s one of those things so easy to check and correct that it would be a loser if it were known not to be true. Heard that PP actually refers people to mammograms, under whatever circumstances would suggest it. PP calls that, afaik, providing mammograms. However, even if PP does actually do mammograms and absorbs the cost, Komen still has a point. Some of the money goes to something else which may cause Komen to want to put their money where it is more concentrated toward breast cancer. Lastly,… Read more »
Wherever one stands on the abortion issue, this story does raise a really good question that everyone could stand to ask: when you give money to fight cancer, where does the money actually go? How much of it goes to labs trying to find a cure, and how much goes to people trying to raise even more revenue? I can’t imagine that Planned Parenthood is the only controversial organization that Komen is associated with. I find it hard to believe that Komen is always focused on only spending money that directly prevents breast cancer. Are you telling me that teaming… Read more »
I have yet to read any articles calling into question Planned Parenthood’s mammogram services. Any chance you can provide some links?
I really like the way Backpacking Dad put it: “You need to speak up in the kitchen for society to change.”
@Danny, I think that’s really the idea behind my post. We might not agree now, but if we don’t allow everyone to discuss the issues, then we will never agree.
@wellokaythen, it is really good to remember that breast cancer is not confined to one gender. The Komen Foundation doesn’t benefit only women.
Not sure about Komen’s actual motivations. Anybody can lie about the real motivation and it’s hard to disprove. But. Komen says PP doesn’t do mammograms. If true, then Komen, whose specific mission is against breast cancer, has a point. Since money is fungible and since PP does other things, you could object to PP and abortion solely on the ground that this isn’t Komen’s mission and the money could be used more efficiently against breast cancer othewise. If, on the other hand, Komen either had in its directors, or was getting heat from its members, a problem with abortion, then…they… Read more »
You don’t need society to change in order for you to speak up in the kitchen. You need to speak up in the kitchen for society to change.
About needing a uterus to have an opinion: First of all, there is a small number of men who get breast cancer, for example the actor who played the original Shaft. Men get breast cancer, lose loved ones to breast cancer, and pay some of the larger social costs that come with breast cancer. And who knows? Maybe figuring out why some men get breast cancer could be the key that unlocks the big secret to fighting breast cancer in women. Second of all, women without uteri also get breast cancer. Thanks to the commonality of the hysterectomy and the… Read more »
+1
Since when does anatomy dictate how informed an individual can be? Can ignorant people with blue eyes make whatever laws they want about blue eyes? Does not having male genitalia bar you from having an opinion on male genitalia, much less voting on any laws regarding them? Just as importantly, why attack anyone on what they lack physically, when what they lack mentally is the real problem? I’m not about an answer to those questions but a big part of the reason I don’t chime up about abortion too often is because I’ve heard, “If you don’t ovulate, stay out… Read more »
Karen Handel resigns from Komen for the Cure
10:33 am February 7, 2012, by jgalloway
http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/02/07/karen-handel-resigns-from-komen-for-the-cure/
One of our members weighed in on this also:
It’s Time for Dads to Fight the War on Families
“When we undercut women and their reproductive freedom, their economic equality, and basic protections in the workplace, we undermine the family and put our effectiveness as fathers in jeopardy.” Read more at: http://www.nycdadsgroup.com/2012/02/its-time-for-dads-to-fight-war-on.html