Dear Commons Community,

Following  a furor over its decision to pull funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy Brinker apologized to the family planning organization on Friday and said Komen will preserve its eligibility for future grants.  Below is the full text of  Brinker’s statement.

Tony

===================================================================

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.

Dear Commons Community,

On Tuesday, the Komen Foundation, the nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, halted its grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates. Planned Parenthood said the grants totaled $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before for breast-cancer screening and other related services.  The rationale for the change in policy has been sketchy but The Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett reported that the move came less than a year after the Komen Foundation hired a new vice president, Karen Handel, who publicly stated her opposition to Planned Parenthood in her 2010 campaign for governor of Georgia. The Foundation said that the cutoff comes as the result of new rules adopted by the organization barring grants to organizations under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Planned Parenthood is the focus of an inquiry by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) over its handling of federal funding.

The Huffington Post is also reporting that there is a growing backlash if not furor against the Komen Foundation over its decision.

“Dr. Kathy Plesser, a Manhattan radiologist on the medical advisory board of Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s New York chapter, said she plans to resign from her position unless Komen reverses its decision to pull grant money from Planned Parenthood.

“I’m a physician and my interest is women’s health, and I am disturbed by Komen’s decision because I am a very strong advocate for serving under-served women,” Plesser told The Huffington Post. “Eliminating this funding will mean there’s no place for these women to go. Where are these women to go to have a mammography? Do they not deserve to have mammography?”

With her decision, Plesser joins Komen’s top public health official, Mollie Williams, and the executive director of Komen’s Los Angeles County chapter, Deb Anthony, both of whom also resigned in protest.”

In addition, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) said that he personally called Komen founder Nancy Brinker to complain when he heard the news on Tuesday, and he and 22 other members of the House of Representatives have signed onto a letter asking her to reverse her decision.

A similar letter was signed by two dozen senators.

Since the Komen Foundation cut ties, Planned Parenthood has seen a huge influx in donations, including an announcement Thursday that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would be donating $250,000.

Tony