An Unethical Alliance? Catholic Bishops Behind Susan G. Komen Foundation Fiasco

From RH Reality Check: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/03/15/no-sudden-controversy-bishops-and-susan-g-komen-foundation-0

by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check

March 15, 2012

On February 8th, during the height of the controversy that erupted when the Susan G. Komen Foundation suddenly decided to cut ties to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, I was listening to the Diane Rehm Show on "Religious Liberty, Politics and Women's Health Care." Among the guests was Anthony Picarello, General Counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Though I listened carefully to the entire program, my ears perked up particularly when Picarello made a comment on breast cancer in response to a question raised by Rehm about the Komen-PPFA fiasco to all three guests on the show:

Basically, what's happened is the health care reform law provides for preventive services. That includes preventive services for women. The idea is to get out ahead of diseases with prevention, things like mammograms.

Picarello was doing two things here. One was to continue the Bishops false and medically- inaccurate claim that contraceptive care is not "preventive health care." The other was to claim that mammograms are a breast cancer prevention strategy. They are not. In fact they are no more a prevention strategy than an x-ray is a prevention strategy for a broken bone. They are a diagnostic tool. Having a mammogram won't prevent any breast cancer; it can however detect it.

But the reason that this comment caught my attention was that this was the exact argument Komen was making about its decision on Planned Parenthood... because it wanted to go back to focusing on "mammograms." I wrote about the false mammogram excuse here.

Continue reading at: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/03/15/no-sudden-controversy-bishops-and-susan-g-komen-foundation-0

Sign-ups for Fort Worth Komen race lag after Planned Parenthood flap

From The Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/fort-worth/headlines/20120314-sign-ups-for-fort-worth-komen-race-lag-after-planned-parenthood-flap.ece

By TOM BENNING

Published: 14 March 2012

Registrations for Fort Worth’s annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure are lagging well behind the normal pace, a fact Komen officials attribute in part to the recent flap over the breast cancer fundraiser’s relationship with Planned Parenthood.

Only 2,100 people have signed up for the April 14 race, down 43 percent from 3,700 at this point last year, officials said. If the trend continues, the Fort Worth affiliate would lose out on nearly $360,000 used for screenings, treatment and education.

“If it stays slow, it translates into fewer mammograms,” said Jennifer Wersal, the Fort Worth affiliate’s race and communications manager. “It’s a huge impact, and it really will affect people who already have trouble affording mammograms.”

The sluggish sign-up rate is one of the first public signs of lingering fallout from Komen’s emotional and high-profile dispute with Planned Parenthood, a nationwide provider of women’s health services, including abortions.

Continue reading at: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/fort-worth/headlines/20120314-sign-ups-for-fort-worth-komen-race-lag-after-planned-parenthood-flap.ece