Jessica Valenti

Komen cuts grants for Planned Parenthood cancer screenings

I’m sure that most folks know by now that Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast cancer charity and advocacy organization, announced that they were cutting funding to Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings. In the last five years, the money from Komen allowed PP to provide almost 170,000 breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals. 

As I said in Salon, whether the organization pulled their support because they caved to political pressure from anti-choicers or because their relatively new VP for Public Affairs is anti-choice, the end result is the same: women’s health and lives will suffer, especially those of low-income women who depend on Planned Parenthood’s services. 

If you want to let Komen know how you feel, you can tweet at them at @komenforthecure or call them at 972-701-2168. You can also encourage people to donate to Planned Parenthood or to donate to another breast cancer organization like Breast Cancer Action.