Can Komen Ever Regain Our Trust?

There is perhaps no more powerful statement on the betrayal felt by many women with regard to the Susan G. Komen / Planned Parenthood debacle than this one simple video from "Linda":

The pain of her treatment is that felt by at least 1 in 8 women during their lifetime. Her scars on her chest are like those of my wife and so many other women for whom the "cure" involved radical changes to their bodies.

Her sense of betrayal is that of so many women.

It's not that the Susan G. Komen For The Cure organization can't choose who it wants to fund based on ideological/political reasons. It can. That is a perfectly valid way to run an organization and to choose who to fund.

But that's not what people signed up for.

It's not what they donated money for.

It's not what they ran or walked races for.

They donated/ran/walked/volunteered... FOR THE CURE.

There was never an asterisk on the "cure".

It was never "for the cure as long as said cure meets our ideological/political guidelines".

It was for the cure. Period. Full stop.

Perhaps it was naive to believe that no politics were involved, but people believed in the story of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure organization. They completely empathized with Nancy Brinker founding the organization based on a promise to her sister who died of breast cancer. They believed in the story. They supported the organization with their time, money and energy. They made the Komen organization the amazingly powerful force that that is today.

It was for the cure. Period. Full stop.

But then Komen completely mishandled communicating the Planned Parenthood issue and made it far worse with a disastrous interview with Andrea Mitchell that raised many more questions than it answered.

Sure, the Komen Board eventually reversed its position, which was pretty much guaranteed to satisfy almost no one. And certainly many people may be pleased at the departure of Komen VP Karen Handel.

But Komen has a far larger problem.

The proverbial curtain has been pulled back and Komen supporters are learning more about the organization that they have supported.

They are learning of the political activities of the organization's leaders. They are learning about other instances, such as the ending of funding to organizations that supported embryonic stem cell research, even though no Komen funding apparently went directly to such research and the Komen organization had in fact trumpeted the potential of such research back in 2006. A statement about this topic on November 30, 2011, was apparently posted to the Komen website but subsequently removed.

Regardless of how you may personally feel about embryonic stem cell research and whether you think it is should be pursued or whether you think it should be outlawed, this is another example of the politicization of Komen's grant-making.

It was for the cure. Period. Full stop. Never with an asterisk.

And more questions are being raised about Komen's methods, their choices, their staffing... and, well, pretty much everything about the organization.

And while there can be no doubt that the Komen organization has done a tremendous amount of work for breast cancer education and research (just look at the last few pages of their 2010 Form 990 to see all the many grants they've given), the question many of us (including my wife and I, who have been definite Komen supporters during my wife's ongoing fight with breast cancer) are now asking is:

Are they the right organization to whom to donate?

Can we trust Komen's leaders to truly put the "cure" above their personal politics?

Are there better organizations where we should focus our time, dollars and energy? Can our dollars be more effective going to organizations directly involved with research?

How do we find a cure for breast cancer? Or at least better tools than the sledgehammers we have today?

Komen's now lost the trust of the Linda's of the world who believed so strongly in the mission and purpose of the organization. Can they regain that trust? Maybe. Maybe not.

It was for the cure. Period. Full stop. Never with an asterisk.

Comments

[Marilyn]

You GO girl. I love it. Yes, SGK can kiss my butt too. I will donate directly to Parenthood, the YWCA, and any other organization that helps women and men get the help they need when Cancer strikes. I'm so proud of this woman who had the B...lls to STAND UP and tell SGK off. My daughter just went through a double mastectomy and has had her second dose of chemo, and other drugs to get her through this. She's only 41 and has a 16 year old daughter still in school. Cancer is no respector of persons, no matter you gender or age. BRAVO to this woman who made this video. You are my NEW HERO.