I had a hard time sleeping last night and woke up in a funk today. Of course, it didn’t take me long to figure out why my heart was so heavy; the fight between two giants committed to women’s health was taking its toll on this woman.
As I stated yesterday, Komen is an organization I have worked with for more than two decades. I believe in its stated mission of eradicating breast cancer as a life threatening disease. I also believe we wouldn’t be as far along as we are in treatment, fight and education of it were it not for my friend and Komen founder, Nancy Brinker.
You know by now, Komen had made a change in its granting policies and Planned Parenthood was one of those who fell victim. The ensuing firestorm was fast and fierce. Today, Komen reversed its policy decision, with Nancy Brinker releasing a statement (you can read it here). Here’s an excerpt.
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.
I am proud of Komen for doing something that must have been tough to do as an organization; that is to course correct and apologize. I pray that we can all move on from this so we can get back to the business of providing life-saving care and information to those who desperately need it.
