After Komen Cut, Donations to Planned Parenthood Rise

Backlash fierce as foundation cuts cancer screening funds
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2012 1:53 PM CST
After Komen Cut, Donations to Planned Parenthood Rise
In this Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010 file photo, some of an estimated 45,000 people participate in the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in Little Rock, Ark.   (AP Photo/Brian Chilson)

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood has sparked a fierce backlash, with at least two petitions cropping up urging the cancer foundation to change its mind, and a slew of donations flooding into Planned Parenthood itself, the LA Times reports. Planned Parenthood Federation of America has launched a Breast Health Emergency Fund that it's hoping can make up for the lost Komen grants.

That fund has already gotten at least one $250,000 check from the Amy and Lee Fikes family foundation. "We encourage others to join us in replacing the funds lost, so that no woman's health is imperiled by Komen's unfortunate decision," it said. On the Komen foundation's message board, criticism of the move dwarfed support, though there was some of that, too. Anti-abortion groups have praised the move, trumpeting it as a result of public pressure. (A Cafe Mom columnist suggests five ways for opponents to protest the move here.)

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