It's Texas. What do you expect?

"The event in El Paso, which lies over the border from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico..."

Lets see

Population of Teapubs in Texas : almost 99.999%

Dems : about 0.001% and that's pushing it....

Of course, you will see no change in numbers from last year....until you cross Texas State lines....and then it begins to dawn on ya....Holly sh*t

JH-479998

Who the hell makes the rules that says a private organization should be demonized if they don't contribute to the progressive/liberal agenda. When you have members of the House and Senate leading the demonization this country has a problem.

de·mon·ize (dm-nz)

tr.v. de·mon·ized, de·mon·iz·ing, de·mon·iz·es
1. To turn into or as if into a demon.
2. To possess by or as if by a demon.
3. To represent as evil or diabolic: wartime propaganda that demonizes the enemy

Interesting you use the word "demonize" twice to illuminate your thoughts on a secular nation.

@JH-479998

Who the hell makes the rules that says a private organization should be demonized if they don't contribute to the progressive/liberal agenda.

It's in the constitution, right next to where it says that religious thugs can override women's rights.

To paraphrase HG0479998 "Christian Sharia laws are good for business."

Romney,

And, exactly what women's rights are you talking about?

When did it become a womans right to have others buy her contraceptives?????

Komen's goal is to find a cure for breast cancer, and as a private organization they have the right take their donations and apply the 400M to whichever best suits their cause/goal.

Just like those that don't agree with the direction have the right to no longer donate.

Where's the controversy? It's sad that as a country we have become sooooo polarized that this is actually a lightning rod for controversy.

Komen, stay on task. Keep fighting for a cure to an awful disease, and give your money to whichever organization you deem will best lead to that cure.

"The event in El Paso, which lies over the border from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico..."

Lets see

Population of Teapubs in Texas : almost 99.999%

Dems : about 0.001% and that's pushing it....

Of course, you will see no change in numbers from last year....until you cross Texas State lines....and then it begins to dawn on ya....Holly sh*t

You could try to be more wrong but you couldn't succeed. El Paso is a solid Democratic base with democratic reps in Congress..............Priceless.

If Komen's goal had been to find a cure for breast cancer, it wouldn't have tried to cut breast cancer funding to women through Planned Parenthood. Komen didn't say that Planned Parenthood was mishandling funds. Instead, Komen decided to enter the political ring of pro choice vs pro life, an argument that had nothing to do with breast cancer. Komen made it's political bed of nails, and now must lie in it. The sad part is all of the underserved women who won't get screenings now because of Komen's politics and arrogance.

It's Texas. What do you expect?

For Texans to support looking for a cure for Breast Cancer.......which they did!

Texas could of had a run for "Cure for Dry BBQ"...and they would have had 22,000 runners...

Sarah,

Planned Parenthood has nothing to do with finding a cure for cancer. It does basic screening for breast cancer, which is an important and admirable use of funds.

However, if Komen's goal is funding scientific efforts to find a cure for cancer, Planned Parenthood doesn't meet that goal. And it is their money.

Sarah - Doesn't Komen have a "right" to be pro life???

Unfortunately, it was Komen who initially allowed politics to be into their corporate decisions. I support them, but they should be "spanked" for making that initial wrong decision so that it might help prevent them from making a similar mistake again. They simply bowed to political pressure. They have been working hand-in-hand with Planned Parenthood for a long time, the two organizations each addresses a different aspect of the same general goal.

JH: Women pay for their contraceptives in their insurance plans (while footing the bill for your viagra too). Yes Komen can become an anti-abortion group if they want to suddenly become one. They already learned the consequences of joining the lunatic fringe that whines about pregnancy being irrelevant to women's health (outside this one event in Texas of course.)

JH

You ask "Doesn't Susan G Komen have the right to be Pro Life"?

Well of course they should. However why don't they take a firm and consistent stance of "Pro LIfe"...

On all fund raising literature and solicitations, along with tv ads they should say:

1. Susan G Komen will only provide funds to Pro Life Organizations

2. Susan G Komen will not accept any donations from Pro Choice Supporters

3. Susan G Komen will not provide any life saving screening or testing to Pro Choice Supporters

4. Susan G Komen will try to find the cure for females with breast cancer - but only for those who share in our political ideology..

When did it become a womans right to have others buy her contraceptives?????

When they have insurance policies that pay for other health related things. Why is Viagra covered? How about insulin? Get over it, we all pay for things we don't personally use when we pay insurance premiums.

@ Dune.

If they did what you say, they would get mingled in the politics that you state you abhor.

They certainly could say that they:

1. May or may not provide funds to Pro-Life organizations. Or Pro-Choice. It depends on whether or not the organization meets the goal criteria.
2. They will accept donations from any Pro-Life person willing to support their cause. And Pro-Choice. Because Komen is A-political when it comes to taking money.
3. The will not provide life saving screening, as you point out for Pro Choice Supporters. In fact, they do not provide it for Pro-Life Supporters either. Their mandate is to find a cure for breast cancer, not fund screenings.
4. They are hoping to find a cure for breast cancer, and nowhere do they question what party you belong to.

As a comparison Planned Parenthood:

1. Provides support and services for those that are Pro-Choice. And Pro-Life.
2. Will accept donations from those that are Pro-Choice. And Pro-Life.
3. Will provide life saving screenings for those are are Pro-Choice. And Pro-Life.
4. Has nothing do do with finding a cure for breast cancer for those that are Pro-Choice. And Pro-Life. They will, however provide needed services for women.

You are missing the argument. It's Komen's cause, and internal duty to fund what best moves towards that goal of curing breast cancer. Always has been.

People should skip these middle-men Organizations and give directly to the charity of their choice. United Way, Komen and all the others big organizations are just a bunch of administrators who skim money off the top of your donation to pay themselves.

cdahl

thanks for the response.....however - even with all the spin you want to put on it...

I havn't missed "the point" - the fact you felt the need to respond means I made the exact point I wanted to make!

b dune

I didn't respond because I felt your response was pointless.

Dune,

Justify why should Komen take a firm stance on Pro Life, when they have nothing to do with pro life, or pro choice? They are raising funds to find a cure for breast cancer. Something that afflicts pro life and pro choice people. Men and women.

Komen/Cure Foundation is tax exempt just like a church....so they don't have the luxury of playing favorites in my opinion.

Ha! Despite the radical feminists best efforts to hurt the Komen Foundation (ironically in the name of women's health!) SGK is as strong as ever! Good news for cancer survivors and their families!

As near as I can tell, Dune's "point" is that anyone who doesn't want funds intended for research into curing diseases redirected instead to abortions should register as a far-right wing organization. Komen did not actually inject politics into this. They withdrew funding because it was not being used for its stated purpose. Abortion Central decided to try to bully them into continuing funding.

Linda:

Churches play favorites all the time. But, again, Abortion Central does not involve itself in research to try to cure any disease whatsoever. Donations to Komen are supposed to be used for breast-cancer research. They shouldn't be funding Abortion Central at all.

I wouldn't expect Komen to have a problem with participants in their events in Texas. Let's see what happens at the next event in the Northeast or on the West coast. Nancy Brinker's decision to deny funds to Planned Parenthood hurt Komen as far as donations are concerned, and even though she felt the heat and reversed her decision, I have to feel that there will be less participation at these events regardless. A lot of us who have previously donated our time and money to Komen have decided to be a little more judicious as to where we spend our time and money in the future.

Komen and Planned Parenthood are both only in business to make money for themselves. The two of them fighting over the money is just priceless. Why do either organizations need 20% or more of the donations for it's own bureaucracy? Hell, Planned Parenthood CEO's made over 12.8 million. Komen may even be worse. Their top CEO makes nearly 1/2 a million a year alone.

I'll donate my money elsewhere thank you.

The race participation is normal because this whole Komen vs Planned Parenthood thing was only an issue for loudmouthed, arrogant women's libbers and their mainstream media supporters. The rest of us realize that Komen has the right to deal, or not, with whomever they choose.

Justify why should Komen take a firm stance on Pro Life, when they have nothing to do with pro life, or pro choice? They are raising funds to find a cure for breast cancer. Something that afflicts pro life and pro choice people. Men and women.

That's the rub. They NEVER made a stance on pro-life or pro-choice. They didn't take money away from Planned Parenthood and give it to Pro-life ministries. They just changed the way they wanted to distribute funds and felt PP wasn't the best use of their money. It's YOUR side that made it into the political kerfuffle that it became. It's YOUR side that is the embodiment of a political non-profit. Planned Parenthood runs their own PACs. Komen doesn't. Planned Parenthood spends millions on elections. Komen spends none. Komen has one focus - breast cancer. They do not involve themselves in the politics of women's health the way Planned Parenthood does. They simply are an organization dedicated to the cure, prevention and education of breast cancer. It's your side that needs to leave it's politics at the door because Komen has NEVER been about politics.

perhaps if pp did mammograms they would have a right to komans money.

they don't, call them and ask for one. you will be referred to someone who does and you will have to pay the people that do.

so, none of you know what the heck your talking about.

@ Q22

I totally agree, but you are aiming at the wrong person.

Read 1.10, 1.15 and 1.21.

so, none of you know what the heck your [sic] talking about.

Well, besides being challenged grammatically, ooomy, you frankly don't, either.

Komen never said one thing about pulling funds from Planned Parenthood because they give referral vouchers for mammograms.

They said it was because PP was "under investigation". Convenient that that "investigation" was put into motion by ONE Republican Congressman from Florida (Cliff Stearns) who was associated with Karen Handel's campaign for governor of Georgia.

"They don't do mammograms" is just a blatant after-the-fact cover-up.

Who the hell makes the rules that says a private organization should be demonized if they don't contribute to the progressive/liberal agenda.

Public opinion.

An organization can make any contributions it wants to ... or not. However, the organization must then live with the consequences of the decisions it makes.

That's exactly what happened here. SGK make the decision NOT to contribute to PP and now is dealing with the consequence. (And, apparently, now giving it back!)

Just as SGK has the right to contribute ... or not ... so do individual members of the public. Many are choosing NOT to contribute to SGK.

My big issue with SGK is all the money it spends on admin (like that RIDICULOUS salary) or the money it spends on lawyers. AND the fact that cancer isn't "pretty and pink".

cdahl, Komen's mission is to eliminate cancer so Planned Parenthood's role is education and advocacy of breast exams as well as providing mammograms to the clients it serves. PP serves women who would not otherwise receive medical care and early detection and treatment is an important part of Komen's goal. It's unfortunate that Komen chose to target this group to cut funds and bring politics to the table.

I agree. It's just like those Jerry Lewis telethons that collect millions every year for the last 40 years (at least) to find a cure for MD.

Lady/Marlene, so why don't you cure cancer? you can't just "point and click", and BOOM, there's a cure.

Thank you Mark, for an obvious reply to two truly absurd questions.

You would have to ask the doctors. When are we going find a cure for any cancer?

Mark: We are talking years and years of taking peoples' money and a cure is not in sight. I can't point, click and BOOM, but those who can allocate the money to those who have the resources to do the research seem to have failed us. We are talking millions of dollars spent--and no cure. I'd love to see a cure for breast cancer and if it was in my power to cure it, I would. I am, as of 2/19/12 a 10 year survivor. Who wouldn't want a cure more than me? Right now, I'm merely in remission. Bring on the cure.

Real,

What "rabid right" are you talking about?

Maybe he meant Rabbit?

If there is no difference in price, I have no objection to the company directing some of the funds to cancer research. I have some news for you. Abortion Central does not do any cancer research. They do some things to help their image. But they wouldn't bother if they couldn't do the abortions.

You know that 3% of PP services are abortion, while the large majority are things like pap smears, mammograms, and birth control, right?

I would wager the BC they provide probably prevents a lot of abortions.

Real,

Pathetic that you would be willing to go to a store that does not donate part of their profits to help your fellow women. Breast cancer hits people from all across the political spectrum, as well as men.

There are plenty of other polarizing opportunities for you to waste your time on. Exercising your right and effort to take money away from people of your own political ideology is wasted passion.

JH-479998, I can't speak for anyone's else's situation, but when I was in college and didn't have insurance, I used PP for my pap smears and birth control. It wasn't free, I had to pay for it. I didn't ask about any sliding scale services, but I wasn't offered any, either.

Lisa - When I was college age, I also paid out of my own pocket for things that I needed. I am getting sick of this mentality in America that we should tax others to pay for certain things. A safety net for the poor is something that will always be needed but it will not be viable in the future if we continue to call every little thing a "right".

JH - then we expect you to pay 100% of the cost of your Viagra. And from your comment, I'd say that you should also be prepared to provide the cost of your own heart attack, cancer treatment or car accident.

JH: Women do pay for their health insurance. Maybe you ought to look in the mirror if you want to start yelling "freeloader".

AP - name one thing that insurance provides "for free" that doesn't involve a co-pay or deduction.

Lisa:

A lot of people have made a big to-do about how "certain donation sources cannot be used to fund abortions" (e.g. government donations.) When you say only 3% goes into abortions, do you include those sources as part of the pool? (Hint: Yes, you do.) Abortion is what they are actually interested in. But they know full well that if they were open about that fact, they would lose enough popular support to get shut down.

If Abortion Central were less, ah, discrete about their actions, they would have a condition of juxtaposing their claim that they desire abortion to be a decision between a woman and her doctor with the fact that their "doctors" never question abortion as the best answer. It's a sort of "we do the doctor-shopping so you don't have to."

Lisa S - You do know that Planned Parenthood does NOT do mammograms, right? They give referrals to places that do, but they do not do any mammograms. Don't you think Komen's grant money should go to places that actually do mammograms?

Wait till they move out of red Texas and move into the blue states and watch runners and donations drop like a rock

Ooooh....That will teach those cancer sufferers!

No it will teach the right wingers not to play politics with fundraising organizations. The VP at Komen had run as a Republican candidate with the specific agenda to defund Planned Parenthood. When she lost that race she joined Komen as a VP and tried to do it there. It has been part of the far rights agenda to cripple any organization that doesn't fall in line with their agenda whether in be Planned Parenthood, National Endowment for the Arts or National Public Radio. The right are a group of taliban like terrorist that will attack anyone but their own narrow vision. They got their a$$e$ kicked at Komen and it will happen again next time they try playing politics with charities.

Who, exactly, is playing politics with their charity? Who runs political PACs to elect sympathetic politicians? Planned Parenthood. Who spends millions on lobbyists? Planned Parenthood. Who gets tax payer funding? Planned Parenthood.

Komen stays out of politics. They don't run PACs, don't get government funding and spend very little on lobbying.

Komen stays out of politics??? What are you smoking? Karen Handel was a VP at Komen and before that she was a Republican with Tea Party agenda candidate for Governor. When she was running it was her specific platform to defund Planned Parenthood. When she lost that race she joined Komen with the same agenda. Komen's first lame excuse for defunding Planned Parenthood was that a GOP chairman in the House had them under investigation and they don't fund groups under investigation. When it was revealed that Komen had/was funding other groups under investigation they tried some other lame/lying excuse.
BTW, just which PACs did Planned Parenthood fund and which exact races were they funding? Which specific lobbyist did they pay for to accomplish that end?

Whoa!! One person working at Komen who is Republican makes the ENTIRE organization F-ing RIGHT WING????? What complete BS. How many card-carrying Democrats are affiliated with Planned Parenthood???? Or doesn't that count? And what makes a Republican UNFIT to work for a charity that promotes the cure for breast cancer??? I didn't realize there was a litmus test for fighting cancer. Frankly I would have woithheld funds because PP is a scummy organization that bullies others.

Komen stays out of politics.

Now that we know the organization supports the republicans (which is currently anti-woman) why would we want our money going there? Komen doesn't do research, I'll send my money where it doesn't go to somebody's inflated salary. PP is an organization that actually helps all women in many ways, and they will be getting my support too. If Komen doesn't like the scrutiny it should have not played politics, because now we are looking deeper into the organization and realizing there are more effective places to give our support for breast cancer cure.

Relay for Life benefits the American Cancer Society, not Komen.

Either way, it is an organization that puts cancer research before "abortion, abortion, rah, rah, rah."

"Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" is also another event that is NOT connected to Komen, and a much larger portion of the money earned goes to breast cancer research and and services. It is sponsored by The American Cancer society....no connection to Komen. I would recommend contributing money to them before Komen. And, by the way, the color pink represents all breast cancer charities, not just Komen.

Val-2313698 -

I'm not quite sure of your source for your information and comments. You can find financial information at www.cancer.org and www.komen.org

Regarding Making Strides Against "Breast Cancer" put on by the American Cancer Society - you are WRONG. The dollars go into a general fund, even though it's about breast cancer. Also, even though both Relay for Life and Making Strides events are "community" events, the dollars do not go back to the community. Rather, they go to a regional office where a portion is allocated back to that area.

Also, you're wrong about the amount of breast cancer research funded by ACS in comparison to Komen. ACS was founded in 1913, and started significantly raising funds in 1945. Komen wasn't founded until 1982 and has funded over $650 million in breast cancer research - more than ACS's total breast cancer research investment.

Additionally, Komen spends about 18 cents per dollar on operating expenses and ACS spends more than 28 cents per dollar on operating expenses - a very significant difference.

American Cancer Society also partners with Planned Parenthood for programs. Therefore, if you don't support Komen because of breast screening grants, you can't support ACS either.

Methinks there are tens of thousands of breast cancer sufferers, survivors and families that hope you are wrong. But their interests were never a concern with your side, were they?

You'll find out, if you ask, that they do NOT give mammograms, despite their attempts to mislead people into thinking they did when Komen first pulled their funds from PP. They do some good things for women's health, but, in the end, they are a huge bully with tons of lobbyists that crucified a private organization (Komen) in the social and national media because Komen decided (as private organizations have a right to do) that they did not wish to give their money to PP anymore. (Gee, maybe because PP does NOT offer mammograms????) So, the bottom line: once you donate to PP, you can't ever, ever stop or they will destroy you in the public media. I think it's a shame. The bigger shame is the great number of public figures who supported PP's bullying stance against Komen (and most of them couldn't tell you what PP does either!!!)

Aimee- I went to PP in college and a bit after. I got my yearly check up and birth control. As I didn't have a regular doctor at the time, that's also where I found out my blood pressure was starting to go up (it runs in the family), and I needed to keep an eye on it.

don't worry missouri...obamacare will give you everything FREE!

broke- what will the health care reform bill be giving me for free? My IUD, already paid for with my insurance coverage? My hubby getting snipped once we're sure we are done having kids? That will also be covered by my insurance. Just because I used PP a decade or so ago doesn't mean I'm looking for a handout. While you can apply for reduced rates based on income, I paid the regular fees for visits and prescriptions.

missouri

The progressive/liberals feel that contraceptives should be free today with Obamacare. Would you prefer that your blood pressure pills be free also? I would think that blood pressure meds would qualify as "health care" more than contraceptives. Where is the free ride going to go from here?

When we stop paying for your Viagra, JH.

It's not that they should be free, it's a question of what falls under the definition of 'preventative' and will not require a copay. It's all still paid for by the insurance subscribers, who benefit by the use of preventative services when larger expenses don't hit the insurance pool later. Birth control does fall under that definition of preventative, as it's much cheaper to the insurance pool than pregnancy care, labor and delivery, and newborn medical care.

You'd think my blood pressure meds and extra checkups would fall under that, but they don't. (personally I'm for universal health care. I'd be happy to trade off my premiums for increased taxes and coverage for all)

Jude-NDMSH

Planned parenthood gives vouchers for mammograms. They don't have the equipment on-site, but they DO give mammograms by paying for them at qualified facilities. To say they don't is misleading at best, an outright lie at worst.

JH: what ARE you babbling about?? What "free" insurance?? Geez, turn down the wing nut radio rants and learn some facts. It's called INSURANCE and women pay for it, genius.

Jude-NDMISH stated, " [PP] are a huge bully with tons of lobbyists that crucified a private organization (Komen) in the social and national media because Komen decided (as private organizations have a right to do) that they did not wish to give their money to PP anymore."

I don't know how this was covered on Fox news, but the Planned Parenthood officials I saw interviewed were pretty civil about this ruffle, and wouldn't bad mouth Komen despite some opportunities to do so. Also, the story I saw listed 3 fairly high level KOMEN employees who resigned as protest over its decision to defund PP.

So, "no," Komen shouldn't be forced to give money to anyone they don't want to. But neither should women be expected to unquestioningly donate to Komen if Komen decides to choose women's worthiness based on political/religious reasons.

Proving phony? How and by whom?

Personally, I think all of it is a scam. And by that I mean fund raising for cures in general. How many hundreds of millions (or billions) of dollars have gone down that rat hole with little to show for it. The fundraisers skim too much off the top and not enough goes to the cause it was raised for.

All that money for research, and then the pharmaceuticals charge exorbitant amounts to cover their R&D investment? Doesn't that sound duplicitous to you?

It's called the English language John D....look in to it.

John: there is no decision to stop funding. Try and keep up guy. If you're going to be the mysogenist in charge here, you're going to have to do better than whining about "dumb people" (particularly when you can barely string words together).

Misogynist, genius.

Yes - it is very expensive to run in a Komen race. American Cancer Society on the other hand, runs the Relay for Life and I have personally helped with race day registrations that included people who were able to collect only a few (I mean $5 or $10 only) and those donations, and the people who raised them, were welcomed just as enthusiastically.

Good to know. Sounds like the ACS is worthy of the donations. I'll keep that in mind when giving what little I can. Most goes to local stuff anyway. Toys for kids at Christmas, coats in the winter, etc...

It is always good to hear from people who give what they can where they can no matter their circumstances. Thank you for your contributions to your community. I'm sure your gifts are greatly appreciated by those who receive them.

It's not expensive to run in a Komen Race - you pay a flat registration fee $20-$30. Donations are encouraged but not required. You may be thinking about the 3-day 60 mile walk which is meant to be a big impact event.

For people who care about supporting breast cancer research AND under-served individuals who don't have the resources to pay for mammograms, treatment support, etc. Komen is the organization making an impact and doing it very efficiently with more than 82 cents of every dollar supporting the mission - research, screening, education and treatment support.

If your want accurate information, I recommend that you do your own research rather than believe the disparaging comments and incorrect information that has no factual basis. Feel free to correct me and share a link to your information source!

Thanks for the info pmc. That Avon race I mentioned was one of those 3-day affairs.

At our local affiliate, if someone can't afford to participate, they work with you on the registration fee. Just last year our affiliate lowered their registration price for a very low income church so they could participate in support of their pastor's wife. Registration fees are a flat rate and donations are not required. The 3day walk does have a donation requirement, but generally draws a little different crowd than a normal race.

"They may have the runners, but do the runners have the dollars."

If it's like the Avon race I described above then they have to have the money. If you can't raise it then you have to pay it yourself. Charitable, huh!

At least liberalism is real, unlike "god", "Jesus christ", "the virgin mary", and "santa claus".

liberalism is real?...real what? real bull crap?

bauer,

And what is the right wing? the right wing agenda is a religion and is religiously based; an even more egrious assualt on the separation of church and state. the goose stepping right is beyond a religion, but is fanatical and obsessive!

Liberalism is only a religion to those trying to make a weak equivalency argument like you are.

Liberalism is a political point of view. Is conservatism a religion? Is moderation a religion? Those would be the equivalents.

Liberals are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish. They have values based on those religions.

Your claim is false, and obtuse.

bauer: liberalism is a "religion"?? What?? And you call anyone else a "dope"??? Open a window....breath.....now did you have some point you were trying to make?

For Christians, their living, breathing savior is a person, Jesus the Christ.

For Republicans, their living breathing savior is a person too, (fill in name) the Corporation.

Well said!

Annual race turnout is not just runners, but also numbers of watchers.

It will take at least one year to have a measure of the dilution of the politization and effect on orderly documented decison-making that occurred, if then.

It will also take at least one year to determine what the true policies are, the meaning of Planned Parent "eligibility", and the conclusions anyone or any sponsor wish to draw from that.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to know how many women would have been denied breast screening--which contradicted the Komen mission--had the Planned Parenthood cuts gone through by the Komen recruitment and policy process, unanimous Board vote, and CEO approval.

Komen's future lies largely in their hands--what they do from now on about genuine transparency and leveling with the pubic at each and every stage.

It would be best if there is no more "workin' on mysteries without any clues"--Bob Seger.

It is also impossible to gauge critical sponsorship renewal decisions on less than a 1-year basis--especially those which may have time remaining on a 3-year term, and where a disillusioned sponsor nevertheless does not want to create controversy now by conspicuously withdrawing mid-stream (and in view of contractual commitments to pay money).

Sarah: Well said.

Not to mention donations DIRECTLY to planned parenthood have skyrocketed.

How's that Robert? By not giving more money to PP? The same PP that's worth over 1 billion dollars? The same PP that gets taxpayer money then claims a profit for the year? The same PP that pays each of their executives hundreds of thousands a year?

Womens health wasn't ever in danger, PP's losing a teat to mooch off was the danger.

How has Komen corrected mixing a political agenda with women's health? They accepted the resignations of two people? Komen attempted to mislead its constituents, denying that the cut in funding to Planned Parenthoods' breast cancer screenings

was politically motivated. Until Komen truly changes its hierarchy and makes a true commitment to the apolitical pursuit of women's breast health, it's talk will be just that.

There are other breast cancer research organization one can donate to. Just because Komen doesn't get the money doesn't mean research is not getting it. I would encourage people who have donated through Komen to continue to donate the same amount, just through or to another organization.

Robert: they didn't' "correct" it. There was one resignation. Better to simply remove the 'middle man' and give directly to other breast cancer non-profits...And just for good measure...I'll be increasing my donations to Planned Parenthood as well.

Participants who have already signed up and raised funds who disagree with Komen's actions against PP should march in protest. Maybe black ribbons instead of pink, signifying the deal of an ideal. The ideal that women's health should never be used as political or religious fodder.

"The ideal that women's health should never be used as political or religious fodder"

Unfortunately Sarah, women's health issues ARE solely religious and political fodder these days... Do you know who really cares about women with breast cancer? The women who have breast cancer, that's who.

Do you know who really cares about women with breast cancer? The women who have breast cancer, that's who.

And the men in thier lives, that's who

...and those who KNOW women with breast cancer. There are millions and millions of us who are not about to let the far right's war on women infect anything else.

Atlanta is the home base for ACS - Komen is Dallas

Actually Komen was going to cut $14 million a year. That is a significant amount. It certainly pays for a lot of poor women to get screenings. Keep in mind they were pulling breast-cancer money because of abortions, not breast cancer. This was a political maneuver by Komen to appease the conservative board members and anti-abortion activists. Komen has lost their way and forgotten what they were about. Millions of women reminded them. If you wish to call women idiots for rightful outrage go ahead. Wherever you got that $170k figure, I'd say you were lied to or not listening carefully enough.

We did not misunderstand what Komen was doing. We knew exactly what they were doing. Women have been having to "read between the lines" of attempts to reduce our advances in equality, health care, human rights since at least the suffrage movement. We have gotten very good at recognizing weasel speech and calling out those who engage in it.

C McCoy - you don't know what you're talking about. The entire grant amount to 19 Planned Parenthood office was a total of $680,000. They were actually going to continue $250,000 in grants to make sure that women would still have access to breast health services in those specific communities.

Not sure where you got $14 million but you are WRONG! Komen Affiliates granted a total of $93 million to communities across the country - more than 2000 organizations.

Stop spreading incorrect information!!

Not sure where the $14 million a year came from either. Last year the grants to PP were $680,000 of $93 million. That is .7% of all grant funding. The money wasn't leaving the communities either, just going somewhere that it can be better utilized. There were 3 grants that were still going on through 2012 too, but no one seems to care about those, they just say that funding was cut. Funding is also not guaranteed year to year. Grants have to be reapplied for each year and nothing is guaranteed.

How petulant and churlish can someone get? Planned Parenthood saves so many women's lives with all their other work, yet all you can focus on is 5% of what they do? The pressure on Komen came primarily from women that support a cure for breast cancer, not partisan stupidity.

Grow up.

C McCoy - David's point is that he values fetuses and couldn't care less about the health care and survival of actual women.

C McCoy, since when is saving a child's life partisan stupidity? Or are you saying that Democrats could care less about the life of children? They're just disposable to you, like a piece of trash or a dirty diaper to be thrown away. Now THAT'S stupidity!

Anita, you couldn't be more wrong. I have a wife, a mother, and sisters and women's health care is very important to me. Why doesn't Planned Parenthood get out of the baby murdering business and just focus on women's health if that's really their primary objective? What's the matter, cat got your tongue?

You treat pregnancy like it's a life threatening disease akin to cancer. You must be so proud that you can stand by while a 1.2 million babies a year are eradicated in this country, with Planned Parenthood being the largest baby killing factory. Abortion is the leading cause of death among children at a rate 30 times higher than that of women dying each year from breast cancer. We take preventing and curing breast cancer seriously, why don't you do something to reduce the number of children killed each year unnecessarily? Or do you condone the 1.2 million annual slaughter? While we haven't completely figured out how to prevent cancer yet, we DO know how to prevent pregnancy over with an effectiveness rate of over 99%.

C McCoy,

If 5% of your dinner is contaminated with feces, would you still support it's consumption?

I'm more concerned with the health and treatment of children who are born unwanted. I'm more concerned with not imposing my values on other people. I never had an abortion, I never wanted an abortion and I can't imagine the circumstances when I would have considered one, but I do know women who have made that decision and it was not easy or entered into lightly.

Just because I don't want something doesn't give me, or you the right to deny it to anyone else. I'm old enough to remember the terrible aftermath of illegal back alley abortions and had a relative die as a result of one. Just because abortion is illegal doesn't mean it will not occur and the result will be more deaths and maimings. If you care about women and their healthcare you will respect them enough to make their own decisions based on their own beliefs and circumstances.

It still boils down to this: If you don't believe in abortion, don't have one - no one is going to make you.

Anita:

I call bull. Do you support laws against rape? If so, then you do impose your values on other people. I'm going out on a limb here; but I don't think that you would accept "if you don't believe in rape, don't rape; no one is going to force you."

Opposition to abortion is based on protecting the child, who is being forced into the situation. This much is the same as you. No one ascribes to mere choice actions he considers morally wrong. But the fact is that you, I, and everyone else here impose our values on others all the time. The argument of "not imposing our values on others" used for abortion is a flat-out lie.

Real Army Wife -

You don't know what you're talking about! Rather than believe information that is ridiculously incorrect, try doing some research! 82% of every dollar raised goes to the mission - 18% to administrative expenses which includes salaries. The IRS audited financial statements are on the komen website.

A substantial amount of your donations to Komen also go to bringing legal action against much smaller charitable fund raising efforts that dare to use any version of the phrase "for the cure."

Nancy Brinker's salary is in line and actually less than many large non profit execs salaries. She also only started earning one in 2009, after 27 years of volunteering. Komen has done more for breast cancer in the last 30 years than any other organization and is the largest funder of breast cancer research next to the government.

Komen didn't insert the politics, the radical Left did. Komen simply had a policy not to work with any organization that was under investigation. Too bad for Planned Parenthood that they are. Komen had no problem re-engaging with Planned Parenthood if the investigation concluded that everything they were doing was legitimate. Why aren't you concerned with Planned Parenthood misappropriating funds? Or is criminal activity okay with you? You don't care about the means, just the end, eh?

Natalie: your aspertions on cancer researchers are not only misguided, they are simply pathetic. Do you imagine there's huge money in finding cures for childhood cancers, where research has made probably the biggest gains in the past 20 years? Or do you dismiss those gains too as just another big conspiracy lie? do you imagine cancer researchers get into the field to devote their lives to lining their own pockets through some kind of absurd plot to keep cures at bay?? If you'd been alive when the measles vaccine was first found, you'd no doubt been running around like a chicken with your head cut off screaming at people to "CARE FOR YOURSELF!! "This kind of conspriacy theory knee jerk nonsense and fear mongering about what you clearly don't understand is bad enough...but to try and spread such ignorance?? Go find a basic science course would ya? Perhaps you can do something constructive with all that hysteria.

AP-1414066, before attacking Natalie, why don't you explain why some cancer drugs, including those for children, are in short supply? Drug companies won't make them because they don't feel they're profitable enough, that's why. As much as I'd like to believe in the altruism of drug scientists, the reality is if there isn't enough bucks in it for them, they've demonstrated they'll let people suffer and die.

Many, many of my friends have dropped out of their annual Komen races and won't be running this year. There are plenty of other organizations to give to that do breast cancer research and screenings where you don't have to worry about your donations going to support the far right political agenda's war on women. And from what I read, PP's donations are through the roof thanks to that war on women.

AP not sure about the whole right wing war on women thing but it good you and your friends give to causes you care about. I personally have nothing against PP and if you find it a good cause I think you should do whatever in your power to help it along. I was just stating the feeling we get when we go to the race and am sorry that you and your friends will not be there to share it.

Attend the Relay for Life. Cancer survivors have a special place in the Relay day activities.

DJ11: I don't know what the fee Komen charges for their races. IMO they should allow anyone who wants to participate to do so without having to charge them anything but the nominal cost of the shirt which identitifes you as a participant (so you can run or walk.) Anything more is just making money from cancer survivors.

Regardless, if it makes your wife happy to participate, keep doing it.

Drip101 it cost us less than $100 for the two of us like I said with a little extra donation and I would pay 10 times that to see her smile and have a good time and compared to other runs I do ( most for local causes ) it about right in the middle. I was never pressured to get any extra donations. Anita I will look into the relay it sounds like fun I am not sure they have one local but I am sure we will still do the Komen race. Thanks to both of you.

The Komen 3 day walk (60 miles) requires a very large commitment of money and one must sign up months in advance of the walk. One of requirements is that you must give your credit card # and if you don't get enough donations, they will charge your account for the rest. It may be different amounts in different areas, but a friend of mine had to commit to $2500 in donations for the October walk in our area this past year.

Val never did the 3 day walk this is just the local race for the cure in Oct. it sounds a lot different from anything I have done the past three years now if it is a group or corporate sign up I do not know how that works we are ask to help on donations but I never had to give a card or did they harass me to get more. Thanks for your input I will look more into this.