Komen for the Cure Donated $730K to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in 2009

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 12, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Komen for the Cure Donated $730K to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in 2009
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 12
, 2010 

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — October is the month for breast cancer awareness, but it’s difficult for pro-life advocates to lend their support to one of the primary organizations involved in the fight against breast cancer because it has provided contributions to the Planned parenthood abortion business. 

 The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has long denied that abortion plays any role in elevating the risk for women of contracting the deadly disease. That’s despite a wealth of research over decades showing an average increased risk of about 40 percent for women having abortions compared to those who carry their pregnancy to term. But the contributions Komen affiliates make to Planned Parenthood, which does more than 25 percent of all abortions in the United States and aggressively promotes abortion abroad, provide another sources of frustration for pro-life people who otherwise would support the group. 

 In a new interview with the Daily Caller, Komen spokesman John Hammarley provided the latest figures showing the link between the two groups. 

 He confirmed 20 of Komen’s 122 affiliates have made donations to Planned Parenthood and, last year, those contributions totaled $731,303 — which confirms earlier pro-life analysis of Komen’s figures on its web site LifeNews.com reported earlier this year

The Komen spokesman also confirmed Komen affiliates contributed about $3.3 million to the abortion business from 2004-2009. 

Hammarley sought to play down the funding by saying it’s a small percentage of Komen’s income or expenses. 

“That $731,303 is less than one percent of the entire amount of community grant funding that affiliates around the country contribute,” Hammarley said. 

He also told the Daily Caller that the funding is closely monitored to ensure the money does not go to pay for abortions directly, but breast cancer screening projects Planned Parenthood sponsors. But, for pro-life advocates, how Planned Parenthood uses the money is less important than the fact that the abortion business receives the funds and doesn’t have to use money it makes from abortions to pay for the screenings. 

“No matter whether they are giving $500,000 a year to Planned Parenthood, or $5, people who respect the dignity of human life and are trying to save people with disease don’t want any part of their money going to an organization that is subsidizing an abortion provider,” Bioethics Defense Fund attorney Dorinda Bordlee told the news web site. 

Another problem for pro-life advocates is the fact that Planned Parenthood is reducing the number of breast cancer screenings while increasing its abortions. 

According to the 2008 Annual Report from Planned Parenthood, breast cancer services decreased by 4% and abortion procedures increased by 6%. 

The longtime ties between Komen and Planned Parenthood may have resulted in some backlash from the pro-life community. The Komen annual report reveals Komen brought in almost $22 million less, or 6% less, in 2009 than it made in 2008. That could be a result of the difficult economic times or may also come as a result of pro-life advocates increasingly boycotting Komen. 

Meanwhile, the newest research on the link between abortion and breast cancer reveals abortion certainly plays a role in increasing the breast cancer risk. 

A January 2010 study called abortion a “known risk factor” for breast cancer and cited a study conducted by the prestigious Janet Daling group of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. 

Daling and her colleagues showed between a 20 and 50 percent increased breast cancer risk for women having abortions compare to those who carried their pregnancies to term. 

 

And microbiologist Dr. Gerard Nadal, who has a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from St John’s University in New York, has spent 16 years teaching science, most recently at Manhattan College, has been profiling more than 100 studies on his blog showing abortion’s link to breast cancer. 

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