Catching Up With Komen

I was appalled by the Susan G. Komen group's abrupt decision to remove funding for Planned Parenthood. It shows the absolute disregard for the actual mission of both organizations by the people managing it. The about-face and sacking of the folks who drove the decision makes a bit of a difference, but corporations have the right to put money where they want. When they do (or don't in this case), they also need to accept the consequences of those actions. I remember when the Komen foundation was an up-and-coming thing and I was amazed and impressed by how quickly they grabbed allegiance with so many people. It makes sense; the basic message is “we’re all affected by cancer in some way, and cancer sucks!” Tragically, in a move obviously triggered by an election year and selfish politics, we now have seen the reality: The Komen foundation can be plied against universal, unilateral support of women. Their support could be conditional. As I said earlier, I don’t begrudge them the option to remove funding. It’s unfortunate that they opted to alienate a large segment of their supporters over politics (why were they contributing to Planned Parenthood previously?), but they’ve also opened my eyes. I will be less likely to support an activity with Komen’s name on it. I think I’m not alone on this. And that's not all. This article shows that they may have been endorsing a gun manufacturer at the same time that they were defunding Planned Parenthood. How does that make any sense at all? And maybe more damning is the following movie trailer, which casts even more doubt on the motives behind the foundation, and was available the week of the Planned Parenthood debacle (disdain for Komen is not new, apparently). Are they still in it to fight cancer, or has it become a branding juggernaut caught up in a whirlwind of profit?