From the office of Sen. Barbara Mikulski:
U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) today joined 24 Senate colleagues in a letter to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation urging it to reverse its decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.
Each year Planned Parenthood provides important breast cancer screenings for poor women, including 750,000 breast exams and 770,000 PAP tests. In 2011, grants from the Komen Foundation provided Planned Parenthood with $650,000 in funding for breast cancer prevention and screening.
The letter was also signed by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jon Tester (D-MT), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Max Baucus (D-MT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Al Franken (D-MN), John Kerry (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).
Below is a copy of the letter that was sent toNancy G. Brinker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure:
Dear Ambassador Brinker,
We write to express our disappointment with Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to cut funding for breast cancer prevention, screening, and education at Planned Parenthood health centers. This troubling decision threatens to reduce access to necessary, life saving services. We urge Komen to reconsider its decision.
Planned Parenthood is a trusted provider of health care for women and men. More than 90 percent of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are primary and preventative including wellness exams and cancers screenings that save lives. Each year, Planned Parenthood health clinics provide 750,000 breast exams, 770,000 pap tests and nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases. Twenty percent of all women in the U.S. have visited a Planned Parenthood health center.
For the past five years, grants to local affiliates of Planned Parenthood have been an important part of Planned Parenthood’s work to protect women from breast cancer. Komen funding for Planned Parenthood has provided nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and resulted in 6,400 referrals for mammograms. In 2011 alone, grants from Komen provided Planned Parenthood with roughly $650,000 in funding for breast cancer prevention, screening, and education. According to a recent statement by Komen, “In some areas of the U.S., our affiliates have determined a Planned Parenthood clinic to be the best or only local place where women can receive breast health care.”
It would be tragic if any woman—let alone thousands of women— lost access to these potentially life-saving screenings because of a politically motivated attack.
We earnestly hope that you will put women’s health before partisan politics and reconsider this decision for the sake of the women who depend on both your organizations for access to the health care they need.
Sincerely,
“Senator Mikulski, first, you’re incorrect, and second, women deserve better than PP for breast health.”
http://www.jillstanek.com/2011/04/busted-us-senator-falsely-claims-planned-parenthood-performs-mammograms/
I do not see this decision being part of politics but more moral beliefs! I have not contributed or sponsored any events held by Susan Komen in years! I do not believe they should give aid to any organization who cannot guarentee that the donations are being used solely for breast cancer research.I would rather give to a hospital or research organization. I am a christian and I will not contribute to any possible organization who provide abortions to young girls! Thank you to the Susan Komen Foundation for doing the morally correct thing and saving lives rather then taking them!! I think I will be at the Susan Komen walk next year!!
Well said, VolunteerMom! (Although there will probably be verbal attacks for voicing an opinion that is not viewed as being “politically correct”). I usually don’t enter comments on websites, but I wanted to say I agree with you. I, too, never contributed to any SGKomen Foundation-sponsored events in the past (because they gave funds to Planned Parenthood). I respect the Foundation so much for going through with a decision that will undoubtedly be frowned upon by the liberals–just look at the Mikulski letter & all the Dems who signed it. Not to mention, all the negative media coverage…so much for unbiased news reporting.
since announcing their decision to cut ties with planned parent hood donations have soared!
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/02/after-cutting-ties-with-planned-parenthood-komen-donations-up-100-percent/
To the writers of the comments above:
Planned Parenthood provides services to those who cannot afford medical care, including counseling for expected parents and breast cancer screenings. While VolunteerMom feels she may have the means to pay for top-dollar medical care and not do with the services of Planned Parenthood, there are not many people as fortunate as she.
Most importantly, Planned Parenthood enjoys bipartisan support, including some testimonials from those who are pro-life who say that Planned Parenthood saved their lives! In addition to the Democratic Senators who signed this letter, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who can hardly be described as a left-wing activist, has pledged to personally match donations made to Planned Parenthood up to $250,000.
While you may comment that this is an example of biased news reporting, this is clear evidence of a war on women, their health and their rights to receive the medical care they deserve. A friend of mine would more than likely not be alive were it not for an early breast cancer screening, so it makes me angry that Komen would do something as heartless as this.
There are plenty of organizations that support breast cancer awareness and screenings and provide them to women. I am willing to support any of them … except Komen. In fact, the amount of donations made since this news broke has almost matched last year’s funds that Komen sent to Planned Parenthood and several Komen officials have resigned in protest of this decision. So good riddance to the Komen foundation.
Tom Myers
President, Young Democrats of Harford County
Tom Myers,
Volunteermom never said she had “top dollar” medical care, those are your words. You know full well that there are more women in America that have medical coverage than women who need the services of Planned Parenthood. You are not that ignorant, are you?
Tom, Planned Parenthood only provides referrals for mammograms. Every dollar donated to them for these referrals frees up money for abortions.
Oh, and by the way, SGK reports a 100% increase in donations since the announcement.
No, Mr. President. Killing Is Killing No Matter What We Call It.
by John Piper | May 13, 2009
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It’s a magnificent thing: The only newly-originating life in the universe that comes in the image of God is Man. The only newly-originating life in the universe that lasts forever is Man.
This is an awesome thing.
And, as everyone knows, that reverence is not shared by our new President, over whom we have rejoiced.
He is trapped and blind in a culture of deceit. On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, he released this statement,
We are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.
To which I say:
No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women; you are authorizing the destruction of 500,000 little women every year.
No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for one million little human beings every year.
No, Mr. President, killing our children is killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. You may say it is a private family matter over and over and over, and still they are dead. And we killed them. And you, would have it remain legal.
Mr. President, some of us wept for joy at your inauguration. And we pledge that we will pray for you.
We have hope in our sovereign God.
(From the sermon: “The Baby in My Womb Leaped for Joy.”)
Yes, Mr. President. You can ignore Rob because he probably thinks you’re a secret Muslim anyway.
Yes, Mr. President. I will tell him there’s no such thing a a talking snake and an invisible man in the sky.
We can normalize gay lifestyles, promote gay youth experimentation and make gay families a glorified option for all.
I am sure that this is part of the conservative Christians, namely Southern Baptists, who pulled their monies from this foundation when they realized that it supported planned parenthood. Others may have followed their lead in not giving because the monies donated would go against their conscience. However, we are living in a time when the government as well as our representatives would have us violate our conscience. And in the case of christian hospitals, schools, and other organizations we must cover abortifacients. State Universities (Vanderbilt) are demanding that recognized clubs have no qualifications to join or be in leadership–meaning christian clubs can not limit their leadership to christians, ie. someone like Fellowship of Christian Athletes could have an athiest as its president. These issues are all intertwined and they will not be sorted out any time soon or easily.
Susan Koman’s official responce was that their evidence shows that women who undergo abortions are at greater risk of cancer, not to mention depression, suicide, drug and alchohol abuse and many other effects tied back to this. So for a cancer foundation to support an organization who offers abortion, which is linked in their cancer research, would be asking them to go against their conscience. Regardless if they believe abortion is right or wrong.
Tom Myers, I burst out laughing at your self-righteous indignation. Especially humorous was hearing about all the “pro-life women who said Planned Parenthood saved their lives”. I challenge you to name one truly pro-life person who would say that. And secondly, you throw the same old, tired liberal crap about it being easy for women who have access to health care to point fingers. Well guess what, Tom, there are inexpensive or free alternatives out there for women who need help – church outreach programs, mobile exam units, free clinics – they’re out there and are being utilized! Try informing yourself instead of parroting old jargon. Let’s not pretend that Planned Parenthood is in the business of doing breast exams. Let’s not act as if they do anything other than what is now meagerly required by law (thanks to your other hero, Obama) as far as parental counseling goes. Planned Parenthood is, and always has been, in the business of killing children, and will continue to do that as long as they possibly can. Wake up.
Planned Parenthood, whether you like it or not, is all about treating women as something other than real property. It’s about making sure that a woman has a right to choose to bear her fifth or sixth child instead of just because someone else thinks she should. It’s about parental planning. Because whether you agree or not, some people can’t afford to be the Duggars. Some people have more responsibility and seek the assistance of others who would help them with their choices. And the decision, as always, is a decision made by a woman in consultation with her doctor and her God. Not you or yours.
Hmmm….”parental planning”….what a nice euphemism. Ever visited a PP clinic when “parental planning” was occurring?
Have you ever been given condoms? Perhaps your ignorance could be tempered by reading more and spewing less. Read about Margret Sanger and the decision by the Supreme Court that allowed a Connecticut couple to use condoms when it was outlawed by the state. Just how much intrusion do you want the state to have in everyone else’ bedroom? Not a particularly comfortable attitude for an individual that would like smaller government and less oversight. Resolve that for yourself please.
I have heard some unbelievable and scary thoughts and opinions on this. So here’s mine.
If you don’t want or believe in abortion than don’t have one. No one is forcing you or anyone else. This conversation and argument needs to end as it’s going on decades. Stop this they kill babies nonsense. How dare you try to take away the right of someone to make their own decision. I think it’s worse to have an girl/woman not take care of her self while pregnant, have an uncared for and unloved baby,no money, in the “system” for the rest of us to pay for or worse killed or abandoned by her own family. There are so many ill prepared people breeding because they are to stupid to know when they get pregnant, won’t use condoms or go on birth control (some because they can’t afford it ??) but a baby they can – stop the insanity. I’m so in favor of it, if you continue to have children when you already can’t take care of your family and are on every entitlement program there is – you should be required to have an abortion, until you can figure out away to say no for 3 days a month.Sometimes a woman even married and rich simply doesn’t want to have a baby – and that is her choice.
God has nothing to do with it…here something to really piss you off – There is no God – there I said it – so what. Otherwise when someone has a miscarriage what do you say – God killed the baby – of course not – A 14 year old must face a extra hard life for a bad decision she made at 14 ?? really ??
I don’t tell you what to believe in – I honestly don’t care. Don’t make someone who needs help be denied because of your beliefs. They are yours – not everyone’s, the same goes for me – it’s a matter of CHOICE !!! If your against it – that’s great, fine – don’t be a part of it but don’t deny others. I’m against lots of things but I don’t try prevent others from making their own choices in what they need to do.
SGK is a business – as is cancer and any religion. Regardless of what I may think of SGK – they can and should be able to do what they want. They do need to understand since they pressure and guilt you into donations like I’ve never seen before with any other organization, they can’t be picky as to who contributes or doesn’t.
Well that sure is news Mr. Porter. PP continues to be the largest and most successful eugenics program in the US…thanks to all that taxpayer money. We all have the right to pick and choose where we want to make (or not make) charitable donations. The list of characters signing this letter is all I need to understand the motive for this plea from our elected public servants.
What upsets you more? The notion they provide abortion and contraceptive services? Or that they provide them to white women, too?
Mr. Myers,
Your friend owes her life to breast cancer screening and a mammogram, but the test was not at a Planned Parenthood Clinic, was it? In fact no women receive mammograms at their clinics – they are not equipped to do so. I know you know this… right?
The decision by the SGK Foundation was based on several factors if we can believe them. One of those factors is not to support institutions under investigation for violating hosts of laws. Too bad for PP, but that is the case. A simple search on the internet will provide numerous examples about how this organization violates parental consent and child abuse laws – consistently. Check.
Second, since PP only conducts screenings, as do a host of other organizations, and not the mammograms themselves – clients can likely receive those benefits from those other organizations that will now benefit from funds received from the SGK Foundation. If anything, if this about access to health care, as you say it is, then this ought to be a victory in your eyes.
Frankly, I don’t care what you do with your own money. And you can keep it from the SGK due to your political views. I don’t care, and I doubt they do also. However, SGK will continue to fund and help women with breast cancer – who is declaring war on women’s health? Sounds like you are.
In every war the truth is the first victim. If you read about this issue you will discover this is ever so true.
To Tom Myers –
The first paragraph of your ‘response’ goes beyond rude all the way to inciting class warfare. By stating that VolunteerMom ” feels she may have the means to pay for top-dollar medical care and not do with the services of Planned Parenthood, there are not many people as fortunate as she.”, you are attempting to demonize someone who has likely worked hard for what she has, presumably including quality health insurance. If you can’t say something nice…
And since you’re so willing to support other women’s health organization, may I suggest to you the Greater Baltimore Crisis Pregnancy Center. Go ahead and Google it. And then come back and let me know if you’ll be donating your time or money to them, and why or why not. By the way, GBCPC has never performed nor referred anyone to an abortion. perhaps that will save you the time of looking it up.
At any rate, have a great day!
God Bless,
Jeffery Beck
Mr. Myers should go do al little reading about the founder of what is now PP. Margret Sanger was not a politicly correct person.
But, Mr. Myers is a Stateist, and the state is smarter than any of us.
For those of you too lazy to read about her, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia (and before you get all snooty, its a lot less biased than the stuff written in here): Sanger’s efforts contributed to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case which legalized contraception in the United States. Sanger is a frequent target of criticism by the pro-life movement, based primarily upon her racial views and support of eugenics, but she remains an iconic figure for the American reproductive rights movement.
“Her early years were spent in New York City, where she associated with social activists such as Upton Sinclair and Emma Goldman. In 1914, prompted by suffering she witnessed due to frequent pregnancies and self-induced abortions, she started publishing a monthly newsletter, The Woman Rebel. Sanger’s activism was influenced by the conditions of her youth — her mother had 18 pregnancies in 22 years, and died at age 50 of tuberculosis and cervical cancer.”
Yes pro-life activists like to equate her work with Eugenics (look that up and think for yourself). But at least she believed that the human female was not simply property of a man.
Porter,
Eugenics? Hmmm. Let me see. That would put her in the same belief group as German National Socialists. They also wanted to improve the human race by deciding who should and should not reproduce. So I should take give credence to a woman whose thinking is so skewed that she wanted to enter our bedrooms to encourage selective reproduction but because she did something you like we can forget all of that? Porter, get your head in to the 21st century and stop with the ‘woman as chattel’ baloney.
Wondewring who the German National Socialists are? That would be the Nazis.
Read the article and stop editorializing. You went off on a tangent, but you still don’t know what her values were.
sadly komen caved, susan is still in the business of funding abortions.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/3/komen-drops-plan-cut-planned-parenthood-grants/
Ah, but the Komen Foundation has now reversed itself. So all of you who dislike them can now like them, and those of you who were stridently against them because they decided not to support an organization under Congressional investigation can now be big supporters.
Planned Parenthood is an abortion mill. If you are pro-abortion then you have no problem with them. If you are Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, or if you hold other non-religious based moral beliefs that lead you to oppose abortions, then America is the land of freedom of thought and freedom of speech. There are other organizations that provide health screening for women and unwanted pregnancy counseling but do not provide abortions. Support them. The Greater Baltimore Crisis Pregnancy was mentioned and there are many, many others, some in Harford County.
The problem with all of this is that SGK has now drawn attention to the fact that they actually do support PP and have decided to continue. That will cost them a bunch because a lot of people who thought they were just funding breast cancer research now see them differently. I am one of those people.
Has Spike Mikulski been excommunicated yet?
Otto,
Why would she be excommunicated? She is not a practicing Catholic and certainly does not subscribe to the tenets of the Catholic faith. Neither you nor I know if she even attends mass. Who cares? Mikulski is irrelevant to any discussion of morality. Same can be said for O’Malley, and more so.
Don’t get me wrong. O’Malley and Mikulsi can say they are Catholic if the want to, but they can’t legitimately BE a Catholic while actively rejecting and working against the core beliefs of the church. If they CLAIM to be a Catholic while doing so then that is just another of the many examples of their hypocrisy.
I am not a Catholic.
David –
Perhaps YOUR ignorance could be tempered by not confusing abortion with contraception. Also, the judgement you keep referencing uses as it’s premise the separation of church and state, and makes no mention of abortion. That ruling is also questionable to some because in it, the federal government usurps the rights of an individual state.
The bottom line is that America has lost her moral compass, and until morality returns to America, the murders of over 53 million people will be justified by the cries of ‘womens rights’ and ‘affordable healthcare’ and ‘pro-lifers are bigots’.
Good day and God Bless,
Jeffery Beck
I know the difference Jeff. It’s still the woman’s body – not your recreational and reproductive property. Have all the kids you want – and I have a suggestion – let your wife donate her uterus for the children others want to abort.
David A. Porter would you like to actually perform legal abortions?
I would prefer to have a license to perform lobotomies and electro-shock therapy.
David A.Porter would like to not only vigorously promote abortions he’d like to go one step further and help perform the procedure. It would give him great joy to assist in terminating cellular life.
I’d be glad to help you with your retroactive zygote extermination.
Are you channeling you inner Margaret Sanger? Do you also have a fondness for eugenics…race and IQ based forced sterilization?
Just for you this one time.
David A. Porter loves pregnancy termination so much he’ll pay for yours and witness the act
PORTER,
That comment was personal, mean-spiritued and out of line for this forum. It’s okay to vigorously defend your position but try not to be a flaming jerk. For you I know that is really hard, but try.
Try to focus on the real flamer here Alex… keep poking the bee hive
And neither is that little baby human…or will it be a goldfish? or a lamb? or something other than a human….you get my drift. Probably not.
I love the hypocrisy of the Right. They preach smaller government but they want the government to dictate what happens with a woman’s uterus. The only one with ANY credibility on this issue is Olympicmom based on her screen name. But she sounds like a Bible thumping nutjob.
If these individuals want to have 10 kids, that’s their choice. I’m sure they would be opposed to the government putting a limit on the numbers of children they could have like they do in China.
Their ability to spout off about a fetus’ rights and God’s will and the like sickens me.
I’m nauseated by all of you.
thats right no government money should be used in abortions and in so many other areas. but SJK is a private organization, also if one chooses to have 10 children that is there right but they should also be able to support those children all on their own without any support from the government what so ever.
Including all those increased deductions for each one. We should not be subsidizing any individual’s reproductive efforts.
CED,
I absolutely agree with you that “no government money should be used in abortions”. What you are forgetting is that government money is used all of the time in abortions. Which way do you want it?
Thought the Hyde amendment made it illegal to use federal monies for abortion in the United States.
ah, yes, the hypocrisy of confusing smaller gov’t with necessary laws. The simple fact is that the decision of Roe v. Wade is an affront to the core values on which our nation was founded. Science has proven time and again that life begins at conception, therefore making abortion, at any stage of pregnancy, murder. meanwhile, the real hypocrisy on the left would have abortion be about birth control and women’s rights while trying to give a bunch of trees clumped together more rights than productive humans.
And why would one who reads and believes the Bible be a nutjob? simply because you don’t believe the same things? How about that hypocrisy?
And obviously we in the pro-life group are opposed to government limiting the number of children a couple can have, such as China.
Full disclosure: I am a white male who works a full-time job in an effort to provide for my family, which includes myself, my lovely wife, and my 6 (yes 6, that’s SIX) beautiful and intelligent children. I believe that abortion under any circumstance is murder. and I believe that everyone who has posted on this thread, regardless of their opinion, has a mother who is, or at least was, pro-life.
On a side note: ‘Rick Santorum is Gay’, your anonymous posting name proves that you are a coward, a bigot, and unintelligent to boot.
Good day and God bless,
Jeffery Beck
I love how the Christian pro-lifer uses science to try and prove his argument. That’s rich.
“Rick Santorum Is Gay” would love to perform legal abortions.
Last time I checked, abortion is legal.
Watcher you can help RSIG perform legal abortions.
Apparently you think there is something wrong with being gay.
You are an affront to a woman’s uterus.
OBummer strikes again!
Hey Rick SIG – science would be in the stone age if it weren’t for the major religions – go read your history. Start naming the biggest names in science and go learn a little about them…what might they have believed. I’m sure not a One of them would have ever thought that a pregnant woman would deliver anything other than a little human. You’re deliberately confusing this issue – sure many of us want a smaller less intrusive GOV and no they shouldn’t mess with a woman’s body…but what do you think abortions do? Enhance a natural process? Bolster the physical and mental health of a female or the unborn baby? Get a grip!
It appears like the decision was reversed. As always thanks for the entertainment.