Komen ends funding to Planned Parenthood

'It's just such a shame,' says Hilary White, who served on the board of Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT Enlarge | Photo Reprints

A decision by the national Susan G. Komen Foundation to halt all funding to Planned Parenthood for breast-health services will hurt poor women who need help the most, a former local Planned Parenthood board member said Wednesday.

"I know Planned Parenthood is very careful to separate funds and functions so that this kind of problem doesn't prevent poor women from getting health care. It's just such a shame," said Hilary White of Holland, who served two four-year terms in the 1990s on the board of the Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio and is now on the agency's endowment committee.

Komen's national policy does not directly affect the Northwest Ohio Affiliate Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which never has given money to Planned Parenthood.

Ms. White said she boosted her contributions to the local Komen chapter last year after Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo said Catholic schools and parishes no longer could raise funds for Komen.

"At last year's Race for the Cure, I donated an extra $100 to support Komen in light of the Catholic diocese's decision to discourage church and school participation," Ms. White said. "Now it seems that Komen, an organization dedicated to women's health, cannot be relied upon to support poor women who really, really need the services."

The bishop said in a July 5 letter to the diocese that Catholic parishes and schools no longer could donate to Komen because the national charity had not ruled out the possibility that it someday may use embryonic stem cells for cancer research.

The Catholic Church teaches that it is not morally acceptable to destroy one human life, even in its embryonic stage, in order to save another human life.

Bishop Blair directed all fund-raising by churches and parochial schools in the 19-county diocese to be "channeled to our locally known Mercy Cancer Centers instead of Komen."

In a follow-up statement after the letter, the diocese said the bishop's decision did not apply to individual Catholics, who could continue to give to the local Komen affiliate.

Mary Westphal, executive director of Komen's northwest Ohio chapter, said Wednesday that following the July controversy, participation fell in the annual Komen Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure, to 17,000 people, but with the community rallying behind Komen the charity was able to reach its race goal of raising $1 million.

Komen officials are now reviewing $1.5 million in grant requests received from local organizations, and will announce their funding decisions in March, Ms. Westphal said.

Bishop Blair is in Rome this week and unavailable for comment. He and other bishops from Ohio and Michigan are meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in scheduled ad limina visits that provide the Pope a look at life in the local dioceses.

Lisa Guest Perks, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio, provided a statement from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, its national office, that "expressed deep disappointment" in Komen's decision.

"We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure," said Cecile Richards, PPFA president.

Nationally, Planned Parenthood said it received a total of $680,000 in grants from Komen last year and $580,000 in 2010, which went to at least 19 of its affiliates for breast-cancer screening, education, and other breast-health services. According to Planned Parenthood, the Komen funds enabled the health centers to perform nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams out of the more than 4 million clinical breast exams it gave nationwide.

PPFA has established a Breast Health Emergency Fund, led by a $250,000 gift from Amy and Lee Fikes' foundation, seeking to offset the loss of funding from Komen.

Komen spokesman Leslie Aun said the decision to cut the funding results from newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state, or federal authorities. According to Komen, this applies to Planned Parenthood because it's the focus of an inquiry launched in September by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R., Fla.) seeking to determine whether public money was improperly spent on abortions.

Mr. Stearns said in a statement that Planned Parenthood received $360 million from taxpayers last year, and while the organization is barred from using tax money to fund abortions, the government money "allows the group to use other funds for abortions."

He said Planned Parenthood performed more than 324,000 abortions in 2011.

In a statement emailed to the Associated Press on Monday, Mr. Stearns said he is still working with Planned Parenthood on getting requested documents. He said he is looking into possible violations of state and local reporting requirements, as well as allegations of financial abuse.

Ms. Richards, the PPFA president, has depicted Mr. Stearns' probe as politically motivated and said she was dismayed that Komen "bowed to this kind of bullying."

Ms. White of Holland said that if Mr. Stearns' investigation is the reason for the funding cuts, "it would make more sense to wait and see what the investigation reveals, because it's probably more politics than it is fact."

Komen has invested more than $1.9 billion in breast-cancer research, health services, and advocacy since it was founded in 1982.

Information from The Blade's news services was used in this report.

Contact David Yonke at: dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154.