The Truth About Susan G. Komen for the Cure

I promised an explanation for my Susan G. Komen comment in my previous post.  Looks like it pricked some ears, so I'll go ahead and address it in this post. 

It's truly very upsetting.  Many supporters of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization have wonderful hearts and a desire to see breast cancer sufferers far and wide live full and happy lives.  But many do not realize what they are contributing to.  

In the past, Mark and I have happily supported the Komen foundation for breast cancer research whenever given the opportunity.  I'd been known to pay a few extra bucks for "Komen" items {like my tennis racket} because they were pretty, pink, and donated to a good cause; totally unaware of the information they attempted to hide for quite some time.  It wasn't until just about six months ago that my news savvy husband stumbled upon a story that peaked his curiosity about the Komen organization.

I do not remember the details now, but there are many such stories that have popped up since, as the awareness of this organization's truth has begun to spread.  The gist of the story Mark read was something to the effect of a Catholic based organization holding a fundraiser from which all proceeds would benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  In the middle of their fund raising efforts it was brought to their attention that the Komen organization donates large portions of their funds each year to Planned Parenthood.  The church was outraged {it is well known that anti-abortion is likely the strongest stance in the catholic church} and immediately made arrangements to adjust the recipient and purpose of their fundraising efforts.

 Once Mark and I were made aware of this little fact we began looking a bit deeper.  I've now found countless documents containing official account records from Susan G. Komen that make no attempt to hide their donations and distributions.  Check out one such informative piece by Life News, here.  The numbers here are staggering and those donations records are from the 2006-07 fiscal year, before buying "pink" really hit it big. 

Now the Komen foundation appears to at least be honest about where their money is going.  But where the scheming and covering seems to come in is with Planned Parenthood.  They attempt to cover and dance around the accusations toward them and S.G.K. by claiming that those "exact" monies given by the Komen foundation are not used to fund abortions, but rather distributed into the areas of their foundation that assist in breast cancer prevention like screening and mammograms.  

Readers, the truth is that no matter how they are proportioned, donations given to Planned Parenthood increase their budget thereby releasing more funds to be used toward abortions.  Ultimately, no matter how you spin it, the giving of any monies to Planned Parenthood shows a support for every practice performed therein, including abortions.  

You can read another, more detailed post on this topic from the Voices for Life page, here.

One other concept to consider.

Stem cell research is huge in the race toward many different cures right now, including breast cancer.  And where do stem cells come from?  I'm just saying... it's tied just a little too tightly together for me to believe that the Komen organization is only in support of Planned Parenthood's breast cancer prevention efforts.  Again, that is my opinion, not a fact {at least not any fact I've found proven in my research thus far}.

Okay readers.

I'm not asking you to believe me blindly.  And I'm not telling you to cease all support of any organizations working toward a cure.  What I am asking of you is to, please, do your research.  Look into the organizations you support, make sure they are morally and ethically sound before you put your dollars in their wallets.  

As we desperately seek to better the lives of those suffering around us, let's not sacrifice the lives of those who could be the ones to find the cure.