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Recently the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation ,the nation’s largest and highly influential breast cancer awareness organization, made the decision to suspend funding for Planned Parenthood because the organization was under a congressional investigation. As soon as this decision became public, the Susan G. Komen foundation came under intense criticism and attack by many news outlets, major politicians, and social leaders who have been strong supporters of Planned Parenthood. Ultimately, the massive attacks and threats against Susan G. Komen caused them to reverse their decision and continue funding Planned Parenthood.

The official argument from Planned Parenthood supporters is that Planned Parenthood has been highly effective in providing preventive screening in underprivileged poor neighborhoods via funds from the Susan G. Komen foundation, and, by pulling this funding many poor and low income women would no longer receive free preventive screening. The unofficial source of the criticism was the reality that Planned Parenthood has become the face and voice behind Abortion in America, and many pro-choice activists saw this as a larger attack against abortion rights.

Many went as far as to say that they would no longer support Susan G. Komen if the organization stopped providing funding to Planned Parenthood. Susan G. Komen has been the face and voice of breast cancer awareness in America for almost three decades; to disavow support from the organization because of a funding decision, not because the organization changed its mission or vision, would indicate that abortion is really the issue. It was almost as if fighting breast cancer was not as important as protecting Planned Parenthood, an organization that remains at the core of political, social, and historical controversy.

The Congressional investigation which lead to Susan G. Komen suspending funding for Planned Parenthood was not Planned Parenthood’s first investigation. And while the other investigations revealed that the organization has not been in direct violation of the law, many have raised questions regarding Planned Parenthood’s indirect violation of the law restricting public funding for abortion.

Public Dollars Indirectly Fund Abortions
In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, which restricted federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. The controversy surrounds organizations like Planned Parenthood who receive federal funding for other services, but the organization still provides abortion services. Planned Parenthood makes the case that they allocate their federal funding to their other services and no federal dollars directly goes to abortion. However, federal dollars going to other programs within Planned Parenthood gives the agency more flexibility to reallocate other funds to abortion that, if not for federal funding, may not have been allocated to provide abortion services. In a sense, the federal government has been indirectly funding abortion.

Abortion Has Been the First Issue Addressed by Most Recent Presidents
The Mexico City Policy address this issue directly in regards to banning United States federal funds that go to organizations who provide abortion services in other countries. In others words, if Planned Parenthood was in a foreign nation they would not receive federal funds. Each of the last five United States Presidents have either supported or removed this policy during the first few days in office, making this a top priority for most recent Presidents. In addition to controversy surrounding funding, there also is the very troubled and dark history of Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood One of the Last Eugenic Organizations in America
The reality is Planned Parenthood was founded as a eugenic organization whose primary purpose was to address population control and race suicide. Race suicide was a term used during the early 20th century that focused on the qualitative decline of the human race, because the alleged “fit” or more affluent in society were reproducing less, while the “unfit,” (less affluent, less intelligent, lower income and minorities)were reproducing more. Women’s rights later became the more dominant public appeal for the organization and is used today as the primary marketing tool of Planned Parenthood. But in many respects the eugenic principles of Planned Parenthood remain today, with the vast majority of Planned Parenthood clinics located in communities that consisted of people who the founders of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger considered to be unfit: the poor and minorities.

While there is a case to be made in regards to these clinics being in a good position to offer breast care screening to lower income citizens, let’s not kid ourselves, Planned Parenthood is primarily in the business of Sexual and Reproductive health, with an emphasis on population control or Abortion in poor and minority communities.

Acceptance or rejection of Planned Parenthood ultimately comes down to acceptance or rejection of eugenic principles, and not necessarily breast cancer screening.