Politics and not-for-profits are no strangers to each other. There are many instances where organizations will actively advocate for the cause they so passionately serve. It is also common and encouraged for organizations to collaborate and share resources with each other to serve a common good. In times of economic scarcity and dwindling budgets and donations this becomes an absolute necessity.
Susan G Komen Foundation announced they would be withdrawing funding from Planned Parenthood. The reason was a policy change. The policy stated that the Foundation would no longer extend grants to organizations that were under investigation. Planned Parenthood was called under investigation by Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns of Florida. The investigation is called “unwarranted” and a form of “harassment” since the organization has already answered allegations of a similar nature in early 2011 which included an audit of 12 years of financial statements. Every allegation was debunked.
Karen Handel seems to be the driving force behind the decision to make the policy change according to an anonymous source. She was hired by Nancy Brinker, CEO of Komen Foundation, to be a vice president after she lost her race for governor of Georgia in 2010. She ran on an anti abortion platform and was very vocal in her opposition of Planned Parenthood. She was also a lobbyist and has worked for the Bush Administration and various other conservative causes which focus on right to life.
This source as reported by the Associated Press, also stated that the decision was politically motivated and it is not the reason being spun by Nancy Brinker. It was pointed out they approved $7.5 million in funding for Penn State University after the policy change. The university is currently under investigation for the Sandusky scandal. This prompted another policy change and a statement was released by Nancy Brinker:
“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.
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.
Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.
Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. 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.
It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics - anyone's politics.
Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. 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.
We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.”
In other words, they made a tactical error. They will be moving forward with the same strategy, but they will be finding another way to implement it. They also underestimated the amount of influence that social media supplies.
If what the Susan G Komen Foundation says is true, then the pro life/ pro choice debate should not factor into the decision to extend funding to Planned Parenthood. The goal of the Foundation is breast cancer awareness and early detection. Planned Parenthood is in a unique position to gain access to low income women who do not have access to health care necessary to receive screening or the diagnostic procedures. There are very few organizations with the reach, resources, and capacity like Planned Parenthood.
The decision to change the policy is good, but it is only a stay of execution. It does not mean that the leadership at Susan G Komen Foundation won’t end up doing the same thing the next grant cycle.
Regardless of your feelings on abortion, the focus of this particular program is breast cancer early detection and treatment. The collaboration between the Foundation and Planned Parenthood provided over 170,000 breast cancer exams and over 6400 mamogram referrals last year with the grant. That should remain the focus. Both organizations are necessary in the fight for women’s lives. It is important that collaborations of this nature remain intact and not degenerate into the nastiness of political power plays.
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