Komen - It's A Matter Of Trust Now

Yesterday I joined many other bloggers, individuals, and organizations in condemning the Komen Foundation for their putting right-wing ideology over the early detection of breast cancer among poor women -- a mean-spirited move that could have cost the lives of some women. They did this by cutting off funds for the breast cancer screening program of Planned Parenthood.

Fortunately many individuals stepped up to the plate and donated over $650,000 to Planned Parenthood to save the early screening program (even New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg put his politics aside and donated $250,000). But these donations from other Americans don't mitigate the action of the Komen Foundation. Their move to put politics over saving lives was despicable.

For a couple of days the leaders of the Komen Foundation tried to quell the backlash to their action by claiming they were receiving overwhelming support for their political move. That was laughable. A perusal of their own website showed most commenters were angry, not supportive. When the backlash continued to grow, the Komen Foundation finally realized what a mess they had created for themselves. Personally, I think they finally woke up to the financial reality of the situation (some sources were predicting their contributions could be cut in half). They have now apologized, saying:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives. The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not. [...]

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. [...]

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

I guess they are now hoping everyone will forgive them and forget their action and everything will go back to the way it was before. Unfortunately it's just not that simple. The Komen Foundation has seriously damaged the trust they had built up over the years. Do they really mean what they say now? Or are they just trying to save themselves and their financial prospects? I have to admit that I don't trust them right now. Consider the following:

* The only promise the organization made in its apology was to "continue to fund existing grants". Those were never in question, since it was future grants that they were going to cut off for Planned Parenthood.

* They assured everyone that Planned Parenthood is eligible to apply for future grants. The problem is that being eligible to apply is a long way from having an application approved for a grant. They could cut off future funds for Planned Parenthood and still be living up to their above statement (since all they promised is to let them apply).

* Even if some future funds are approved for Planned Parenthood, how can we know those funds won't be cut each year until they no longer exist? That would be an "under-the-radar" way to cut off the funds without incurring the bad publicity and huge backlash.

* The right-wing nut-job who instituted the cut-off of funds for Planned Parenthood, Karen Handel (Senior Vice-President of Public Policy), is still employed by the Komen Foundation. She has not apologized or said she would follow a different policy than the one she announced. How can we trust the Komen Foundation as long as she retains a position of power within that organization?

The apology was a good thing, but it was only a very tiny baby-step toward making things right again. Words are nice, but concrete actions are necessary. Trust can be restored, but it won't be easy or fast.