"Pro-life" and morally bankrupt

The misogynists are gaining ground.

Yes, the Susan G. Komen Foundation reversed its shocking decision to cut all grants for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood. And yes, in the resulting outcry, Planned Parenthood raised $3 million from supporters who couldn’t believe that a breast cancer foundation would put women’s lives at risk. But that doesn’t mean that sanity has triumphed.

To quote Gail Collins, “We have now hit the point where there’s nothing that can’t be divided into red-state-blue-state.” Unfortunately, this includes women’s health—even such nonpartisan issues as breast cancer. Planned Parenthood has won this battle to continue providing screenings to low-income women, but the Komen Foundation’s reputation as a responsible charity has been severely tarnished. There is no guarantee that it will continue its grants to Planned Parenthood after the initial storm has blown over. Columbia researchers should be alarmed by the fact that Komen pulled $12 million in research grants from laboratories which also conduct stem cell research—despite the fact that the research was not related to breast cancer and that the Komen Foundation has never funded embryonic stem cell research. This includes labs at Yale and Johns Hopkins, where one of our very own, Debattama Sen, SEAS ’13, worked on breast cancer research.

Komen’s politicization runs deeper than the current controversy. Blame for the Planned Parenthood debacle fell on Karen Handel, its new vice president, who is on record as anti-choice, anti-stem cell research, and anti-Planned Parenthood. Komen’s strategy to deal with the ensuing public relations meltdown was devised by Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush. Komen dominates the breast cancer charity field, but in light of recent events, Columbia students and organizations who want to donate effectively to breast cancer research should consider other organizations like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Breast Cancer Charities of America, or Cancer Research Institute. Columbia’s own Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Columbia Medical Center does fantastic cutting-edge work, and the women’s basketball “Play 4 Kay” game versus University of Pennsylvania on Feb. 18 will raise money to fund it.

Women’s health has been under attack since the beginning of the 112th Congress. Next year, Roe v. Wade will turn 40. Last year, legislatures in 24 states passed 92 laws restricting women’s access to abortion, more than any year since Roe. Planned Parenthood, in particular, has been under constant attack, despite the recent PR victory.

Let’s review some facts. Planned Parenthood spends the vast majority of its time and money keeping women healthy and preventing pregnancy, with abortions consisting of just 3 percent of their services. Sixteen percent of their services are cancer screenings which Komen helps fund, including 750,000 breast cancer screenings each year. Thanks to Planned Parenthood’s policy of requiring that women pay only what they can, they provide vital—and sometimes life-saving—healthcare to low-income women who have no other access to it. Their free, confidential services are also vital to college students —both men and women—who need birth control, reproductive healthcare, or STI checks on a small or nonexistent budget. It is these vital services that hypocritical “pro-life” members of the Komen foundation—to say nothing of Republicans in Congress—jeopardize.

Because of Planned Parenthood’s vital importance to women, and because of the potential for its funding to disappear at the drop of a hat, Columbia students need to stand up and tell politicians from the president on down that women’s healthcare is not negotiable. Sign the petition for Komen to fire Karen Handel—that would go a long way toward rehabilitating their reputation. Whenever de-funding Planned Parenthood comes up again in Congress—and it will—call, write, tweet at, and generally annoy your elected officials until they get the message. And show some love for organizations that help women, especially organizations whose proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood—because they keep women healthy, and a pink ribbon, water bottle, or T-shirt can’t.

The author is a Columbia College junior majoring in Slavic Studies with a concentration in sociology. She is the president of the Columbia Democrats. This op-ed is written on the behalf of the Columbia Democrats Executive Board.