DN Editorial: Komen Foundation acts poorly in defunding Planned Parenthood

PLANNED Parenthood has been under fierce attack by ultra-conservatives for years now, with outrageous allegations which have been proved false repeatedly but which have gained astonishing traction because the news media failed to do their job and many supposed defenders of women's rights were timid in the face of the onslaught.

Maybe that's why the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation - the pink ribbon and teddy bear and "Race for the Cure" people - thought it would be believed when it claimed that its decision to cut a $680,000 grant to Planned Parenthood for breast exams and mammograms had nothing to do with political pressure from anti-abortion zealots.

Within hours of the decision - made in December and revealed Wednesday - Komen's rationale was exposed as bogus and its credibility seriously damaged. As of last night, more than 170 negative reviews on the nonprofits-following Guide Star website had reduced the charity's rating to one star out of a possible five.

According to Komen, it had no problem with services provided by Planned Parenthood, the largest women's-health provider in the nation. No, the organization insisted, the decision rested on a new policy that it would not give money to any organization that was "under investigation" by any branch of the federal, state or local government. And, since an ultra-conservative member of Congress from Florida had begun an investigation into Planned Parenthood based on several patently false charges - in particular, that Planned Parenthood illegally funnels into abortion services government money intended for other women's health services - Komen said that its hands were tied.

It turns out, though, that the rule was adopted after the Congressional investigation was begun and affects, you guessed it, exactly one organization: Planned Parenthood. And the new vice president of the organization, Karen Handel, recently ran for governor of Georgia (endorsed by Sarah Palin), promising to cut government funding for Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings.

The Internet is awash in activity. Last night, Planned Parenthood had received contributions of $650,000 - essentially the value of the grant it lost - to continue the breast-cancer screenings that it had been providing. The foundation claimed that it would find other ways to serve the estimated 170,000 low-income women whose breast exams and mammograms would have been de-funded, but no other organization has a comparable network of clinics and services. (Go to www.plannedparenthood.org to contribute.)

In the short term, it appears, Planned Parenthood will be able to continue to provide cancer-screening services. In the long term, though, its future - and the future of women's health - is at risk if the conservative vendetta against the organization doesn't stop. It has persisted so long because too many people who know better have not taken a stand. Now is the time.