Pro-Life Movement Loses Battle Against Planned Parenthood with Susan G. Komen Foundation Announcement

COMMENTARY | The Susan G. Komen Foundation has announced that it will restore funding to Planned Parenthood for essential breast health screening services, according to the Associated Press. It is admirable that the monster non-profit has seen the error of its ways, but the response begs a bigger question: has the pro-life movement shown its hypocrisy in this battle?

The fact that groups like One Million Moms, an offshoot of the American Family Association, could rejoice for even a second at the loss of funding for Planned Parenthood suggests that they do not fully believe in their pro-life agenda. Breast cancer screenings are meant to save lives, and have absolutely nothing to do with the abortion debate in this country.

The recent attacks on Planned Parenthood over the last few years may lead people to believe that the group is after all pregnant women to convince them to abort their babies. Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth. Women without health insurance or access to doctors use Planned Parenthood for any number of services. Prenatal exams, adoption referrals, STD screenings, pap smears, birth control consultations, and cancer screenings are just a few of the services offered by Planned Parenthood. It is a reproductive health organization, and nothing more sinister.

When the Susan G. Komen Foundation removed its funding for many Planned Parenthood clinics, they did so because they had changed their policies so that organizations under federal investigation would not receive funding. While this makes sense, we shouldn't forget that Planned Parenthood is under investigation on allegations that it used federal funds to provide abortions. Though the investigation seems like an obvious attempt to dismantle the organization, the Komen Foundation was sticking to its corporate policy. Unfortunately, the people that would have lost out in this battle would have been women whose breast cancer went undetected as a result.

In the end, the Susan G. Komen Foundation put their support on the side of life: the life of every woman saved by a breast cancer screening. The pro-life movement may want to end the abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood, but they showed a blatant disregard for life in supporting the defunding of breast health screenings.