I was dismayed and disappointed by Komen for the Cure’s public response to Bishop Blair’s claims that
Komen was financially and ideologically linked to Planned Parenthood.
While it would have been perfectly appropriate-and correct-to issue a statement that the Bishop was wrong
about these links, it was not necessary for the Komen writers to go on at length about how close their
organization is to the Church and how distant they are from women’s reproductive health decisions.
I’m confident that everyone is aware that there is no scientifically valid evidence for a causal
relationship between abortion and breast cancer. Still, I did find, when I worked in an abortion clinic
in Northwest Ohio, that some abortion patients are breast cancer patients/survivors.
More than once, women told me that their treatment for or survival of breast cancer were factors in their
decisions not to carry a pregnancy to term at that particular time.
The Komen Headquarters statement mentions their commitment to "the least among us" and
"those who need help"; apparently, they do not count women whose breast cancer makes it
difficult for them to carry a pregnancy to term among those to whom they are committed. In their haste
to appease an ideological bully, the Komen Foundation has effectively devalued the health care decisions
of these breast cancer patients/survivors.
Way to throw sisters under the bus, Komen. What a shame.
Jeannie Ludlow, Ph.D.
Charleston, Ill.