Komen and Planned Parenthood

Hello Ladies, n' guys,

Well, Komen has done it again!  And with little fanfare on their part, except to the ultra conservative, poorly informed, folks who just cannot get it right in the first place.

I'm far out from diagnosis so I've been around this conversation about breast cancer longer than most, and I assure you, Komen is in it for Komen---As they have been after their first 6 mos when they discovered they'd struck gold with bc as a factor in fund raising. 

We all "know" it's not about the money----It's about HOW MUCH MONEY.  And when the ultraconservatives demand their views be accepted by all, it's again, all about the money.

<<shaking head in amazement>>, just because of ONE very small aspect of a a project's excellent record, the ultras are at it again to  attack women in every space they possibly can to keep women from good care.

At my age, Ladies, I was of the coat hange generations and fought for our "choice".  You younger gals are going to have to take up the fight for we tired older gals, because we may not have the energy to do it again for all women.  So 'all women" begin to care for your freedoms, we have very few left in this country, better watch out as the ultras take the rest of them away from us.

And I am a proud Independent.

AFter reading pages and pages of this and making few posts, I felt I would chime in again... I don't think PP's approach to abortion or not has anything to do with this. Komen was giving money to help support the underserved women in our country, and now that is not available. This is TOTALLY separate from whether PP gives out birth control pills or gives abortions, and the issues should not be blended.

In addition, as I have mentioned many pages back, Komen was in the news last year or so under scrutiny for paying large sums of money to hire lawyers to protect their slogan FOR THE CURE.. If they were really interested in teh cure, they wouldn't be using donated monies to pay lawyers; but rather they should be thrilled that others have coined the term FOR THE CURE... aiming for a common goal.

The bottom line, is that women who do not have medical access, need it. A couple of years ago I stopped supporting Komen and started supporting Avon because I preferred the way they spent the earned money...

The money raised goes to the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to fund access to finding a cure for breast cancer. The focus is on medically underserved women, the under privileged, the elderly, and the under- or un-insured. Funds are awarded to 1) medical research into the possible causes, prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer; 2) clinical care for breast cancer patients; 3) support services for patients and their families; 4) educational seminars; and 5) early detection programs. The whole picture cause, cure, care and support.

Also, I find it absurd that PP would ever deliberately try to "keep their customers" by giving lower dose, ineffective birth control pills. That is not accurate.

Quick comment back White Rabbit: Komens alliance with BoFa is probably the most morally repugnant of its actions. Can't think whether this comes second or its trigger happy legal maneuvers against mom and pop charities the used words which Komen had the shamelessness to patent and enforce.

Thenewme and nancy thanks for the links. Komen is an organization with too many rotten apples. For me this is just its latest. I am sad that this has turned into a discussion about abortion - sad that those wedge issues manage to hijack almost every public policy dabate in our country.....my concern like that of others here is BREAST CANCER. Komen never spoke for me never "found a cure" has spread misinformation and false hope about the disease and could arguably be accused of undermining public health with antics like the KFC bucket-for-the-cure-because-you-died-of-heart-failure-first scheme.

So if this is a day when a nail is driven into Komen's coffin I am happy. Maybe that will open up room for real progress and honest debate on BC in the market of ideas.
ETA:Apologies - phone has no commas.

Iodine,

I highly doubt anyone's goal in this is to keep women from good care.

And just because someone disagrees with you does not make them poorly informed and wrong.

Some PP affiliates do mammos, but some (probably most) maintain lists of local providers who do free or very low cost mammos. 

Soon after I got BC I was trying to get women I knew to catch up on their mammos. Two friends said they'd like to but couldn't afford it. I directed them both to  Komen. One left a message that was never returned, and the other was told they couldn't help her. Period.

I then sent them both to Planned Parenthood. They both were referred by PP to providers who did very, very low cost mammos for them. I'm happy to say they were both cancer-free. 

Komen serves only two purposes, as far as I can tell: to turn October pink and to enrich their executives.

Suck it, Komen. 

bdavis and Athena, the voices of reason. Of course you are right.  This is about health care, cancer care and research. Komen is not the best choice to get dollars to researchers, and that's the bottom line.  I will take a deep breath in order to apologize for my tantrum, and to say once again that I hope Komen at least will be honest about their mission so that women who are trying to donate will know what their dollars are supporting. So far, they have not been up front, denying that the move was politically motivated.  They must think we are pretty dumb.  

PP is all about ABORTION sorry if the truth hurts and ABORTIONS hurt women AGAIN if the truth hurts oh well and yes it is killing a child maybe a future woman who would discover the cure for BC

I agree Birdlady54!

 SAB..If you think that most abortions are just unformed cells, you need to look at some pictures of unborn babies at 8 weeks and even earlier....they sure look like a baby to me!

I also think that young ladies should be encouraged to not have sex at all until they are married! Giving them birth control pills just makes it easy for them to think it's okay to have sex and besides the possibility of pregnancy, there is the huge risk of STD's. When my daughter was in college, she played on the soccer team and it was always joked that she was the only virgin on the team. She said that many girls were on medication for STDs and she even had some girls coming up to her quietly and say that they wished they were still virgins. It would sure save a lot of people a lot of heartache and disease if they were just taught to wait. The choice should occur before conception not after.

Besides the PP connection, I have always wondered about Komen concerning the low percentage of  money that went to research too so that will still be a concern of mine.

I did just read that Komen announced today that their donations are up 100% in the last two days so it doesn't seem to be hurting them too badly.

Yes, Barb, thank you so much, I'm sure I've never seen a fetus before.  In fact, I have 2 children, one from a troubled pregnancy that I CHOSE to take to term, and that I CHOOSE to continue supporting through her multitude of difficulties.  Don't preach to me.

This is about breast cancer care ladies!

HEAR HEAR!

Ok, jap, put up or shut up. Cite a source.

SAB ..I'm sorry if you think I'm preaching but I don't understand how you can say that the baby is just a clump of unformed cells, especially after you've seen pictures that show otherwise.

And this is about breast cancer if PP is giving out birth control pills to thousands of young women without telling them that they can cause breast cancer. 

If members are not able to remain respectful in this discussion, we ask that you kindly take a break from this discussion, or the boards, if necessary. 

Thank you.

Who's right?  Who's right?  Who's right?  Each to their opinion and the twain unlikely to meet.

Raise your hand if you came onto this thread to get a lesson in morality.  What?  No one? 

I'm o.k., youre o.k.  I'm just a little gadfly.  I will just go away now.