Second thoughts about the Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle…
Maybe there is something useful to be learned from the recent backlash against the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation’s (hereafter, Komen) momentary withdrawal of support for Planned Parenthood (PP).
CBS News stated:
Within 24 hours of the announcement Planned Parenthood had raised more $400,000 online, mostly from small donors, according to Tait Sye, a spokesman for the organization.
Additionally, the Fikes Foundation gave Planned Parenthood a $250,000 grant toward starting the Emergency Breast Health Fund, Sye said, in the aftermath of the Komen decision.
And on Thursday afternoon, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he would match up to $250,000 donations from his personal wealth.”
And from the Washington Post:
Donors reacting to the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood contributed $650,000 in 24 hours, nearly enough to replace last year’s Komen funding, Planned Parenthood executives said Wednesday.
The organization had raised more than $400,000 from more than 6,000 online donors as of Wednesday afternoon, compared with the 100 to 200 donations it receives on an average day, said Tait Sye, a spokesman for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He said donations were still coming in.
The group also launched a Breast Health Emergency Fund to ensure funding to affiliates that will lose their Komen grants. That fund received a $250,000 gift from the family foundation of Dallas philanthropist Lee Fikes and his wife, Amy.
“People respond powerfully when they see politics interfering with women’s health,” Sye said. “That’s why we’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of support.”
The last paragraph sums it up nicely: there is plenty of financial support for Planned Parenthood out there, and this proves it.
So why do they need government money? According to most sources, PP receives about $75 million from the government every year. Wouldn’t the objections to its mission mostly disappear if the public is not forced to fund it? Clearly, lots of “fat cats” and regular people with open wallets support PP in an “emergency”, so why not let them do it all the time? Come to think of it, with the possible imposition of Øbamacare in 2013, will we need Planned Parenthood? Recent events have shown that family planning in the form of contraception will be covered if Øbama has his way, as will mammograms (maybe not every year though), HIV screening etc. Between mandated coverage provided by insurers, and the “universal” coverage we will be paying for with Øbamacare, won’t PP simply become redundant?
An organization as popular as Planned Parenthood should be allowed to prove that popularity by removing the crutch of government support. The Komen controversy has convinced me that they can do it.
