Caitlin Emma Photo
After Susan G. Komen for the Cure reversed its decision to defund breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal applauded a successful defense against an “assault on women’s health care.”
Blumenthal joined staff at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Inc. to celebrate the victory at a press conference Friday afternoon at the organization’s headquarters on Whitney Avenue.
The presser came hours after Komen announced it would not stop funding Planned Parenthood, backpedaling on a decision that became public earlier this week. Komen’s announcement led to a bitter break between the two organizations and ignited a social media firestorm, with cries that Komen had given in to right-wing anti-abortion pressure.
“One in five women has been to Planned Parenthood and we’ve heard from all of them this week,” said Judy Tabar, president and CEO of the Southern New England chapter.
Blumenthal was one of 26 senators who wrote a letter Thursday calling on Komen to reverse its decision.
“This sends a message to Washington to stop playing games with women’s health,” declared Blumenthal Friday. “The intervention of politics was completely unwarranted. Leave it to the professionals.”
Komen’s Connecticut affiliate provides about $38,000 a year in funding to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE), totaling about $160,000 over the last six years for education and health services. Komen Connecticut released a letter on Friday saying it didn’t support the national organization’s decision to stop the funding.
Tabar said Komen Connecticut grants have allowed underserved and uninsured women to receive over 950 mammograms and 69 ultrasounds over the past year. The Komen Connecticut grants are used for services at the Planned Parenthood offices in Shelton and Bridgeport.
In Connecticut, Planned Parenthood provides services to over 63,000 patients and PPSNE clinicians perform over 15,000 clinical breast exams annually.
If Komen had decided to stop funding Planned Parenthood, PPSNE wouldn’t have felt the effects until after 2013, Tabar said. In what she called a “timeline” screwup, PPSNE didn’t apply for a Komen Connecticut grant for 2013. Tabar said her organization has to fundraise next year to make up the $38,000, anyway.
If the money had been taken away, Tabar said the organization would have figured out a long-term solution.
“We weren’t going to abandon these women,” she said. “We were going to raise the money.”
The New Haven press conference focused on the future preservation of women’s health and of the relationship between the national two organizations. Tabar said Komen National’s decision didn’t cause any bad blood between her organization and Komen Connecticut.
“They really took a stand,” Tabar said. “We’ve had a great relationship with them for six years and we’re looking forward to continuing that.”
The New Haven office serves as PPSNE’s headquarters. The office doesn’t perform mammograms or receive any funding from Komen Connecticut, said Jenny Carillo, PPSNE’s senior vice president for external affairs and organizational effectiveness.
The New Haven office does perform clinical breast exams and refer patients elsewhere for mammograms, however. Planned Parenthood’s tendency to refer patients, rather than provide actual services, is one reason first cited by Komen in its decision to stop funding.
Komen had originally planned to halt grants to Planned Parenthood because of a new policy not to fund any organization under federal, state or local investigation. Planned Parenthood operates hundreds of family clinics across the country that perform abortions and Congress is currently investigating whether it has used federal money to fund abortions.
On Friday, Komen changed that decision. “We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.”
An outpouring of support helped Planned Parenthood’s Breast Health Fund raise almost $3 million dollars in three days.
Call me cynical, but what did Komen reverse, exactly? All they said was that they would continue to fund existing grants (straw man--they were always going to do that), and ensure that Planned Parenthood could APPLY for future grants. Well, nothing could ever stop them from applying--anyone can apply. The question is whether or not the Komen Foundation will APPROVE future grant applications, and that remains to be seen. This could be nothing but a bunch of PR bull to get the critics off their backs. Get back to me NEXT YEAR, when we know whether or not PP's grant applications were approved.