Susan G. Komen for the Cure Cuts Ties With Planned Parenthood

The news broke today that Susan G. Komen for the Cure has decided to stop providing grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the ubiquitous charity dedicated to fighting breast cancer, is cancelling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grants to Planned Parenthood that help pay for cancer screenings, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Komen has been under pressure from anti-abortion groups to drop its funding for Planned Parenthood, which received $680,000 from the anti-cancer group in 2011. Most recently, abortion foes forced a Christian publisher to stop printing pink Komen bibles and pressured bookstores to take them off the shelves. Groups have also called on supporters to boycott Komen entirely, and decried the group as a "lie from the pit of Hell." But Komen says the anti-abortion groups' activism didn't play a role in its decision, which it claims is the result of a new internal policy forbidding it from funding for any organization that's currently under investigation in Congress. (Planned Parenthood is the target of a congressional investigation, but that probe is led by an anti-abortion lawmaker who has sought to end all federal support to the group.)

One thing the AP piece misses, however, is that pressure to end the Planned Parenthood funding may have also come from within Komen itself. Karen Handel was named senior vice president at Komen in April 2011, and is now "leading the organization's federal and state advocacy efforts." But before joining Komen, she was a candidate in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Georgia, and was critical of Planned Parenthood. "[S]ince I am pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood," she wrote in a blog post, and pledged to eliminate all state funds for breast and cervical cancer screening to the group if she were elected governor. [Mother Jones]

We've supported Komen's Race for the Cure in the past, but we obviously don't support this decision. Cutting off funding under such a flimsy pretext is doing nothing but harming thousands of women who depend on Planned Parenthood for affordable cancer screenings and other health care. Komen is putting the women they claim to care so much about at risk for no good reason.

Planned Parenthood has set up an emergency fund and they're now accepting donations to ensure that they can continue to provide women with the care that they need. Besides donating, you can also tell Komen how you feel about their decision - you can tweet them @komenforthecure and comment on their facebook page. The good news is that they're currently being slammed with tons of negative feedback, but they're also getting a fair amount of praise from the anti-choice community. Unfortunately this includes quite a few people who are taking this opportunity to promote the myth that abortion causes breast cancer, and so far Komen has not stepped in to stop people from spreading this misinformation. You can also take this time to look into other breast cancer organizations that might be more deserving of your support, like Breast Cancer Action.

What do you think about Komen and this decision? Will this cause you to stop supporting them? (Or have you already pulled your support for other reasons?) What other breast cancer organizations do you like?

SOPA Can Suck It

If you're still unclear about what's happening on the internet today, check out these links and get on board the anti-SOPA/PIPA bandwagon.

Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

Wikipedia's SOPA/PIPA Initiative

The Super PIPA/SOPA Action/Info Reference Guide

Mother Jones: The Story Behind the SOPA Blackout

Stop American Censorship

Mashable: Why SOPA Is Dangerous

Ladies of Liberty: Pre-Valentine Party

As you may already know, we have been participating with an organization called Soldiers' Angels by sending letters and care packages to deployed servicemembers. We thought we'd give everyone a little update of how things are going and give you information on how you can get involved!

The Ladies of Liberty program focuses specifically on the needs of deployed female servicemembers and makes special efforts to support and encourage them. They assist with supplies for their unique health and hygiene needs and help them experience a few "pampering" moments to rejuvenate themselves, even in the environment of war. They collect items such as feminine hygiene materials, vitamins, body scrub, facial masks, shampoo, conditioner, brushes, books, magazines and DVDs.

We recently hosted a Cards for the Troops Pre-Valentine's Day party to collect and create valentine's cards for female servicemembers deployed overseas. (Yes, we know it's a little early for Valentine's Day, but it can take several weeks for mail to reach the troops sometimes.) The party was a huge success and we now have over 40 handmade cards!

There are a lot of ways to get involved with Soldiers' Angels. We hope you'll all consider signing up or helping out. Soldiers' Angels is a non-political group... so it doesn't matter how you feel about war to support the men and women risking their lives in it.

Happy very early Valentine's Day!

Get Your Santorum Sweater Vest Today!

Those of you who have been torturing yourselves by following the race for the Republican presidential nomination might have noticed that Rick Santorum has been sporting some snazzy sweater vests on the campaign trail lately. Well, you'll be thrilled to learn that if you act fast, you can get your very own official Santorum sweater vest from his campaign's website. Check it out:



Before today I was not aware that the sweater vest was the perfect symbol of conservative solidarity. The more you know, huh? Aside from the fact that you can get sweater vests anywhere for a lot less than $100...and that Santorum's campaign will be long dead by the time you wait four to six weeks for delivery of your Santorumvest...oh yeah, and that Rick Santorum is a raging homophobe and an anti-choice misogynist douchebag, we think this is an awesome deal. Order yours today!