The pro-life movement was elated by the news yesterday that Komen for the Cure decided to suspend any further grants to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Media outlets reported that the decision was based in part on the fact that the abortion giant is currently under investigation by Congress concerning misuse of taxpayer funds, fraud and potentially violating state abortion laws. The Associated Press reported that, “Under the criteria, no further grants will be allowed unless the pending House inquiry is resolved in Planned Parenthood’s favor.”
Austin Ruse, the president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (CFAM) tells LifeNews that the AP report is wrong and that the Komen funding is not a temporarily decision based solely on the fact that Planned Parenthood is under investigation at the federal and state level.
He told LifeNews.com that the official Komen statement announcing the decision does not mention that it is conditioned based on the results of the Congressional investigation and that it’s not a temporary change based on a change in how grants are allocated — pointing to the sentence in the Komen statement saying, “We also implemented more stringent eligibility and performance criteria to support these strategies.
“What you take from the Komen statement is that it is about a change in funding criteria which does not rely on the success or failure of an investigation. You can infer from this that the decision is long-standing and not temporary,” Ruse says. “Pro-lifers should be happy today that Planned Parenthood gets yet another black-eye. Susan G. Komen Foundation should be congratulated for making this important decision.”
The key in the Komen decision is the grant criteria it uses to make grants. That has changed from “pass-through” grants — which allowed agencies like Planned Parenthood to receive grants that allowed it to make referrals for women to receive mammograms from other agencies — to outcome-based programs. (Planned Parenthood does not perform mammograms at any of its centers across the United States, something Komen has acknowledged). This reportedly has the effect of ending Planned Parenthood funding even if the Congressional probe finds Planned Parenthood free of any wrongdoing.
According to additional information LifeNews obtained about the decision from a pro-life source familiar with the Komen decision, five additional Planned Parenthood grants, similar to the one the Orange County, California affiliate made recently, are in the pipeline but they were approved prior to Komen’s decision in December to end Planned Parenthood funding. [related]
Ruse urges pro-life advocates to contact Komen and tell the breast cancer charity they appreciate the decision.
“The announcement was made yesterday and the Komen office has received more than 2,000 emails denouncing the decision. We need for the Komen people to hear from pro-lifers,” he said. “I ask you right now, no matter where you are in the world, to email the Susan G. Komen Foundation and thank them for defunding Planned Parenthood.”
“This is an amazing victory for pro-lifers who have asked Komen for years to stop funding the abortion giant,” he concluded.
ACTION: Contact Komen for the Cure to thank it for stopping grants to Planned Parenthood at https://ww5.komen.org/Contact.aspx
