Those of you who know me well know that my mother has had breast cancer twice. We do what we can to help find a cure – walking, donating, buying Yoplait for the pink lids – because you don’t really know how much it could change your life until it’s happened to you.
Susan G. Komen is the leader in the breast cancer awareness movement, having raised nearly $2 billion for research since its inception. It’s really a community, a community of fighters pushing for more. I think that’s why it is so heartbreaking for me to see the choices the organization has made most recently and in the past. I’ve already written about the horrific partnership with KFC, so I’m going to talk about the recent Planned Parenthood fiasco today.
As you all have heard, SGK retracted its decision to cut grants to Planned Parenthood because of a federal investigation. Whether this was a result of the public reaction or whether they decided it was the wrong thing to do, is not why I’m upset.
What I can’t figure out is why Ms. Karen Handel, former VP, thought they were getting “in the middle of a controversial issue,” when they’ve been issuing grants for years. News flash, Ms. Handel: You’re not drawing attention to yourselves if you continue doing as you’ve done in the past. That is not out of the ordinary. What you’ve now done is not only drawn national *negative* attention to the organization and scared thousands of women everywhere who couldn’t have afforded help otherwise; but, most importantly, you forgot the true mission behind what Susan G. Komen is all about: Find a cure to rid the world of breast cancer. Shame on you for thinking image is more important than saving lives.
I’m so disappointed because these women (and men) are fighting every day for their lives and trying so hard to make it better for others. How can you expect them to back an organization that can’t even stand by it’s mission?
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