DALLAS, Texas, February 1, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-life leaders are calling on supporters to rally to the defense of the Susan G. Komen Foundation as the organization is being barraged with criticism from pro-abortion advocates in the wake of its decision to cut off funds to Planned Parenthood.
Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam), who has been in touch with Komen advisors since yesterday, told LifeSiteNews that as of last night Komen had received 2,000 e-mails from Planned Parenthood backers and only 64 from pro-lifers.
News broke yesterday that Komen, the largest funder of breast cancer research in America, was cutting ties with Planned Parenthood after seven years of pressure from the pro-life movement.
Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun told media that the decision was made in light of new criteria barring Komen from having a relationship with organizations under investigation by government authorities. Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation by a U.S. House committee over concerns about its reporting of criminal conduct and mishandling of federal funds.
Click “like” if you want to end abortion!
Aun’s statement seemed to suggest that the abortion giant could qualify for funding again should they be cleared by all state and federal investigations.
But Ruse said that is not true, because Planned Parenthood was also disqualified for funding because they do not actually offer mammograms. He pointed to a statement on Komen’s Facebook page Wednesday indicating their new focus on “outcomes-driven” approaches to delivering services.
“They have changed their grant criteria from what they call pass-throughs to outcome-based programs,” Ruse explained. “Planned Parenthood doesn’t do mammograms, for instance. They would refer people to doctors who do mammograms. So that’s a pass-through.”
“Even if all of the investigations go away, they’re still left with this change in the funding criteria,” he added.
According to American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood project (STOPP), Komen affiliates contributed $629,159 to Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2009-2010.
Ruse noted that Komen will be sending five more grants to Planned Parenthood because of pre-existing contractual agreements. “Once those are done, there will be no more,” he said.
The other major concern for pro-lifers was Komen’s support for embryonic stem cell research. But a new statement on their website, dated Nov. 30th, 2011, indicates that Komen funds stem cell research only where the stem cells are “derived without creating a human embryo or destroying a human embryo.”
A report by LifeNews.com on Tuesday suggested Komen’s move may have had something to do with the organization’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Karen Handel, who joined them in April 2011.
Handel ran for Governor of Georgia in 2010 on a pro-life ticket, with a platform dedicated to defunding Planned Parenthood.
Asked if pro-lifers can now be confident in supporting the Komen Foundation, Ruse said, “Can pro-lifers support Komen? I say not only can they, but they should to show appreciation to the Komen Foundation for doing the right thing. We should be flooding their inbox with thanks.”
“[Planned Parenthood] is raising money on this, they’re attacking Komen,” he added. “So our side really has to rally to Komen’s defense and thank them. Then turn our fire back on Planned Parenthood.”
To let Komen know your thoughts, write Komen here.