Komen being pressured by Catholic bishops over Planned Parenthood

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMar 18 2012

Four years back on his visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI blessed a box of silver ribbon-shaped pins for breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure and sent them to its founder, Nancy Brinker. Brinker was touched by the gesture and thanked the pontiff in person on the day of his departure.

However American church leaders began to emerge as critics of Komen's longstanding ties to Planned Parenthood, the women's health organization whose services include birth control and abortion. Internal Komen documents reviewed by Reuters reveal the complicated relationship between the Komen Foundation and the Catholic church, which simultaneously contributes to the breast cancer charity and receives grants from it. In recent years, Komen has allocated at least $17.6 million of the donations it receives to U.S. Catholic universities, hospitals and charities.

Church opposition reached dramatic new proportions in 2011, when the 11 bishops who represent Ohio's 2.6 million Catholics announced a statewide policy banning church and parochial school donations to Komen.

No Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio receive Komen money. But the bishops decided that diocese funds should no longer benefit the charity, for fear that money sent from local Komen affiliates to the Dallas headquarters could wind up in Planned Parenthood's coffers or help fund research on stem cells collected from human fetuses, according to church officials. Planned Parenthood was receiving between $500,000 and $700,000 annually in Komen grants to fund cancer screenings and education for low-income women, many with nowhere else to turn. The charity says it does not fund embryonic stem cell research.

“It's an ideal time for them to push both Democrats and Republicans to acquiesce to their demands, because nobody wants to be seen as disrespecting religion,” said Jon O'Brien of the advocacy group, Catholics for Choice, which opposes the Vatican on matters related to sex, marriage and family life.

Georgetown University in Washington has received $15 million in Komen grants. Catholic institutions overall collected $7.4 million from the charity in 2011 alone, while Planned Parenthood's receipts totaled $684,000 during the same year. The grants, and the warm reception for Komen among some Catholic institutions, underscore the common interests of charity and church in protecting women against a devastating and deadly disease. But some outside observers say the money also raises ethical questions about the bishops' opposition role.

“It is morally inconsistent, and difficult to explain, why you would condemn donations but continue to accept grants. It makes no ethical sense at all,” said Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics.

The annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure will return to Military Park in Indianapolis on April 21. For residents of Brownsburg, and especially the school corporation, the event hits close to home in a very personal way as the town aims to up the ante on last year’s success of raising $23,000 for the Susan G. Komen Central Indiana Affiliate.