Controversy over Komen-Planned Parenthood funding not good for either, advocates say

<p>The national backlash against the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity for ending breast screening grants to Planned Parenthood has advocates of both groups in Sonoma County pressing for a public relations cease fire.</p><p>Komen has been deluged with negative emails, Facebook posts and blog entries accusing it of bowing to pressure from anti-abortion groups in the wake of the disclosure Tuesday that it would halt $680,000 in annual grants to Planned Parenthood for breast exams and related services.</p><p>“I do think it's political pressure,” that prompted the charity's decision, said Connie Codding of Santa Rosa, a decades-long supporter of Planned Parenthood and member of the group's board of advocates.</p><p>“The abortion component of Planned Parenthood is about 3 percent of its service. It's just ridiculous for people to concentrate on that aspect because it's such a small part of what they do,” she said.</p><p>The Planned Parenthood office on Sonoma Avenue in Santa Rosa has treated 4,600 clients since it opened in 2010. Services include breast and cervical cancer screening, abortions, HIV testing, STD testing and treatment and birth control.</p><p>“For us, breast care is such a critical piece of our mission,” said Adrienne Verrilli, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific, which is based in Concord but serves Sonoma, Lake, Napa and Solano counties.</p><p>Komen remains for many the public face for the fight against breast cancer and cancer survivors. The group sponsors annual walks and fundraisers and has made pink the unofficial color for the fight against breast cancer.</p><p>Dr. Dennis McDonald, medical director of the Women's Health Resource Center at the Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, wouldn't comment on the funding controversy. But he said the Komen Foundation's early support of the hospital's Breast Care Center was crucial in getting the project off the ground.</p><p>“They were really the organization that helped us launch our Women's Health Resource Center,” he said, calling Komen's $300,000 in support “really the framework of everything we have built upon.”</p><p>“They are huge in our history anyway,” he said. “They got us started.”</p><p>The two grants from Komen totaling $300,000 in 2003 and 2004 sparked a local fundraising campaign that now totals $4.1 million, according to Sutter spokeswoman Lisa Amador.</p><p>The center provides mammograms for 14,000 women annually.</p><p>Komen has said the decision stemmed from its newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations under investigation, and that impacted Planned Parenthood because of an inquiry by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Florida, into whether the group was using federal funds to provide abortions.</p><p>Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, on Thursday called the investigation a ruse.</p><p>“They are using a faux investigation into Planned Parenthood as their rationale. This is an investigation that is very clearly set up,” she said. </p><p>“It's so short-sighted with Komen. If they don't reconsider it, certainly they are going to lose a good deal of their supporters because many of their people are Planned Parenthood supporters,” she said. </p><p>“It's dividing the women's health community. We should be working with each other, not against each other,” Woolsey said.</p><p>Komen leaders, in their first news conference since the controversy ignited, denied Planned Parenthood's assertion that the decision was driven by pressure from anti-abortion groups.</p><p>“We don't base our decisions on whether one side or the other will be pleased,” said Komen's founder and CEO, Nancy Brinker. The agency is based in Dallas, Texas.</p><p>Brinker said Thursday that there were factors in addition to the newly adopted policy on groups under investigation, notably changes in the types of breast-health service providers it wanted to support.</p><p>A source with direct know-ledge of decision-making at Komen's headquarters in Dallas gave a different account, telling the Associated Press that a driving force behind the move was Karen Handel, who was hired by Komen last year as vice president for public policy after losing a campaign for governor in Georgia in which she stressed her anti-abortion views and frequently denounced Planned Parenthood.</p><p>The source also said that Mollie Williams, who had been Komen's director of community health programs, resigned in protest over the grant cutoff.</p><p>Twenty-six senators wrote a letter to Brinker on Thursday, urging the foundation to reconsider its decision.</p><p>Public reaction to the move has been swift. </p><p>In addition to an influx of $400,000 in smaller donations from 6,000 people, Planned Parenthood announced it is receiving $250,000 from a family foundation in Dallas and a $250,000 pledge announced Thursday by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to match future donations.</p><p>“For our affiliate, the phones are ringing off the hook,” Verrilli said. </p><p>“For Planned Parenthood, it's an unbelievably disappointing position they have taken. We see the Komen Foundation as a real partner in women's health,” she said. “We are all in this together.”</p><p>This story contains information from the Associated Press. You can reach Staff writer</p><p>Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.</p><p>com.</p>