Komen Affiliate Rebounds After Planned Parenthood Controversy

A Susan G. Komen affiliate in Washington appears to be regaining some of the support it lost after the the national organization attempted to pull funding for Planned Parenthood, a decision that was eventually reversed.

One of the affiliates hit hardest by the controversy was Komen Puget Sound, which opposed the national organization's Planned Parenthood decision. Although they worked hard to distance themselves, Komen Puget Sound missed its fundraising goal by $700,000 during this year's Race for the Cure.

While the Planned Parenthood controversy still lingers, officials at Komen Puget Sound are seeing signs that support is coming back. According to a report in Puget Sound Business Journal, Wednesday's Power of Promise Lunch in Seattle is slated to have 450 participants, up from 360 in 2011. Jim Clune, communications director at Komen Puget Sound, told Business Journal that he is also hearing from supporters that they realize that they weren't connected to the national office's decision, and that they are considering returning their support.

A survey sent to supporters by the Puget Sound affiliate seems to confirm that supporters are coming back. More than 60 percent of donors indicated that they still plan to donate to the nonprofit in the next 12 months, while 23 percent are at least considering donating. About 12 percent of respondents had negative things to say, criticizing the national organization's decisions related to Planned Parenthood.

On February 1, the national Komen office announced new eligibility requirements for grants that prevented organizations that were under federal investigation to receive funding. Planned Parenthood fell under that category, as U.S. Rep. Cliff Sterns (R-Fla.) had initiated an investigation see if the organization was using federal funds for abortions, a claim that Planned Parenthood denies. After a massive public backlash, the decision was reversed two days later, but the damage had already been done.

Key Komen leaders departed the organization, culminating with Nancy Brinker stepping down as CEO, although she still remains as the chair of the board's executive committee. The breast cancer nonprofit has also seen major sponsors step aside, including Churchill Downs, parent company of the Kentucky Derby, which dropped Komen in favor of Stand Up to Cancer. The company claimed at the time that the change was made because they wanted to focus on ways to raise money for cancer research in general, not just breast cancer.

You can read the full story in Puget Sound Business Journal.

Defunded NC Planned Parenthood Gets Federal Grants

Just weeks after losing its funding from the state, the North Carolina affiliate of Planned Parenthood announced that it has received a $426,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Lawmakers overrode a veto three weeks ago from Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue on a budget that cut funds from the women's health organization. The cuts threatened to shut down the Durham, N.C. clinic but, with the announcement of the new grant money, that move can be avoided.

The grants come under the Title X program, which allows family planning providers to offer subsidized preventive health care such as annual exams, birth control, cancer screening and STD detection and prevention to low-income women, men and teenagers who would otherwise have no care.

"Given all the attacks we’ve weathered on women’s access to health care in North Carolina over the last two years, we are thrilled now to be focused on expanding care to our patients", said Janet Colm, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina (PPCNC). PPCNC has been a Title X recipient since 2001.

Title X grants were also awarded to other states that cut funding to Planned Parenthood, including New Jersey and Tennessee.

Republican lawmakers were not thrilled with the federal government's action. Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Cary) told The Asheville Citizen-Times that the Obama administration was playing politics with taxpayer money. Planned Parenthood insists that, since no clinical abortions are performed at their Durham clinic, none of the grant money will be used for those services.

You can read the full story in The Asheville Citizen-Times.