Komen controversy not quieting down

Reversal leaves many questioning loyalty to the charity

Some cancer survivors and advocates say Susan G. Komen for the Cure will have to work hard to win back supporters, even after the breast cancer organization reversed course on a controversial decision to end grants to Planned Parenthood.

While some longtime supporters remain loyal, others said feelings of ill will created by the controversy won’t be easily erased.

“There are many men and women who have completely lost their faith in Komen, and they won’t be back in the future,” said breast cancer survivor Lisa Bonchek Adams of Darien, Conn., who raised nearly $ 15,000 for Komen shortly after her diagnosis.

“I have charity dollars, and I will not give them to them anymore. There are plenty of good breast cancer charities out there,” Adams said.

On Friday, the Komen organization backed away from a policy that said it would not fund any group under investigation. Planned Parenthood is currently being investigated by a Republican congressman, who wants to see if federal dollars were used to pay for the group’s abortion services. Komen has provided funding to Planned Parenthood for years, including nearly $ 700,000 in 2011, to provide education and breast care for low- income women.

Komen issued an apology Friday, but in its statement rejected the “the presumption that the changes made in our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.”

Komen CEO Nancy Brinker said the foundation now has new standards for withholding funds for nonprofits under investigation. They must be “criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair,” Brinker said on Komen’s website.

While applauded by many Friday, others criticized Komen’s reversal.

Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life and a breast cancer survivor, accused Planned Parenthood of employing a “scorched- earth strategy to force compliance with their pro- abortion agenda.”

“I don't find it surprising that Komen is dancing around trying to get their way out of this,” Yoest said.

Breast cancer survivor Jan Cattaneo, 56, who describes herself as a pro- life Catholic, said she’s glad to hear that Planned Parenthood’s funding could be restored. “I’m for women getting mammograms any way they can,” said Cattaneo, of St. Louis.

“My hope is that if people decide not to support Komen,” Cattaneo said, “they will support some other organization that supports breast cancer.”