In 2009, Komen advised the public that we should ask 5 key questions before buying any pink ribbon products that raise money for the fight against breast cancer. The whole purpose of the Komen test was to enable confidence that our money is "going where it should." Whether donating to the fight against breast cancer by buying pink products or contributing money directly to an organization, we should have confidence that our money will be used to actually fight breast cancer where the best interests of cancer patients, and not partisan agendas, determine policy actions.
Komen's own organization fails this test.
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever.
Ending breast cancer means research to find a cure, access to diagnostic testing, and also the surgery and treatment.
When I found my lump a few months ago, I went to Planned Parenthood immediately rather than waiting to see a private doctor. Planned Parenthood gave me the information I needed and provided comfort and support because we all pretty much knew it was cancer from the start. At each step of my testing process, Planned Parenthood would call me to see how things were going even though they were not involved. When my primary doctor botched a biopsy, a woman from Planned Parenthood said if I needed more tests, come see her.
When Planned Parenthood is denied funding, women lose a valuable ally in a very frightening fight against breast cancer. We would lose their wealth of information, their contacts, and their very genuine concern for us navigating the scary world of breast cancer.
As emptywheel noted, Komen did a non-reversal reversal in line with the typical right-wing doublespeak:
Komen just pretended to reverse its decision defund Planned Parenthood’s cancer screening services (it promises only to consider PP applications in the future, not to fund them). And, as Greg Sargent reports, they deny that Nancy Brinker did anything wrong.
Did not do anything wrong? The shock and outrage that has hit America is testimony that the Komen Foundation is participating in the war against women, rather than truly and completely fighting against breast cancer. Instead of a reversal of its decision, we can see that the Komen Foundation might just approach things differently next time to hide its true agenda.
Here is the Komen Test to determine whether an organization is worthy of our donations to fight against breast cancer:
1. How is the program structured? Transparency is key. Is the company clearly stating how the money is raised and how much will be going to charity?
Transparency involves more than a financial accounting for disbursements of monies raised. The SGK Foundation's actions alone with stem cell research and grants for Planned Parenthood have made it fully transparent that SGK is now (if people did not see before) a right-wing partisan political advocacy group that wants to use its clout to force extremist, 1% beliefs on the rest of us by deciding who has a right to fight cancer, and how that fight against cancer will be conducted.
A few months ago, SGK issued a press release (now deleted from its web site) that it has never funded human embryonic stem cell research and does not currently fund such research:
Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has never funded human embryonic stem cell research (HESCR) nor does Komen currently fund H-ESCR. Komen supports research on the isolation, derivation, production, and testing of stem cells that are capable of producing all or almost all of the cell types of the developing body and may result in improved understanding of or treatments for breast cancer, but are derived without creating a human embryo or destroying a human embryo.
While SGK claims to be dedicated to finding a cure for cancer by funding research, it ignores science in favor of political beliefs:
The National Cancer Institute notes that "embryonic stem cells hold far more potential than adult cells" when it comes to research, because embryonic cells "can change into more tissue types and replicate indefinitely, two properties not generally shown with adult cells."
2. Who does the program benefit? Does it support a well-managed, reputable non-profit or fund?
SGK Foundation wants to support programs or organizations that totally comply with its political beliefs. No room for even a tiny bit of disagreement.
This is the strategy that was used with its Planned Parenthood defunding decision: If even a tiny percent of the services or research performed at an institution is contrary to its political beliefs, then it's OK to dump funding for services that implement the stated goals of the SGK Foundation to end breast cancer. Only 3% of all of the health care services at Planned Parenthood are abortion services, yet SGK decided to dump funding toward the 750,000 breast exams conducted each year to detect cancer because it opposes abortion.
Even though SGK has never funded human embryonic stem cell research, "anti-abortion groups have been pressuring Komen to stop providing millions in support to research institutions like Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the U.S. National Cancer Institute because those organizations also conduct research using embryonic stem cells."
What do you think are the odds that SGK will at some point cave on stem cell too?
3. How will the organization that benefits use my money?
It should be abundantly clear where the monies go. What organization will they support?
Betty Pinson explained what is Behind the Pink Curtain – Komen's Political Agenda.
Komen spends a "lot of money lobbying" for a "very different agenda" that is contrary to the best interests of women and the fight against breast cancer. For example, the Breast & Cervical Cancer Prevention & Treatment Act came before Congress in 2000 to provide Medicaid coverage to pay for the treatment of cancer after uninsured women had been diagnosed with cancer. Komen opposed the bill on the grounds that "treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients should be funded through private donations, like the pink ribbon race." Pinson points out that this was not the only time that SGK fought behind the scenes to prevent laws beneficial and necessary to the fight against breast cancer.
4. Is the program meaningful to me?
Is the program supporting a cause you believe in or have been touched by? Based on the details of the program and the potential for dollars to be raised does the program make sense to you?
Komen's true colors were exposed with the initial politically motivated decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Even if Komen issues an unequivocal apology about this action, the SGK Foundation cannot be trusted to act in the best interests of women or the fight against breast cancer. Bloggers at Daily Kos and across the net are exposing more and more political shenanigans to further their own right-wing agenda at the expense of a public that worked hard to raise money for their foundation in trust that was misplaced and breached by them.
5. "Is this company committed?" Komen suggests we do some research to "make sure the company is credible and committed to the cause."
Komen is committed, alright, to dumping human rights in order to support their right-wing beliefs.
As emptywheel stated, now is a good opportunity to re-evaluate our approach to the fight against cancer and to find another organization to replace Komen as our "nation's leading breast-cancer charity:"
We ought to use this scandal to examine more closely where cancer money gets spent–on treatment, turning cancer patients into customers–and rarely on prevention.
While I appreciate the gesture, pink ribbons to me have come to symbolize cancer patients as profit centers, both for consumer goods capitalizing on an association with the goodwill (and Komen), as well as for ungodly expensive drugs that don’t always provide better outcomes. They’ve come to symbolize the same kind of passive compliance I think of when I remember those damn pink walls.
It’s time we aspired to stopping cancer, not just throwing tons of increasingly expensive drugs and consumer products at it. And that, in turn, means finding some other entity besides Komen to take the lead.
Please don't stop making contributions to Planned Parenthood directly or to Daily Kos for Planned Parenthood.