03 Feb 2012 Lacking Courage and Backbone, Komen Flees from Bullies

Two days ago I celebrated with you that Komen Race for the Cure had made the courageous move to de-fund Planned Parenthood.  Unfortunately, our praise and donations toward Komen were not enough to drown out the spiteful and hateful backlash that Komen received from thousands of pro-abortion activists.  Komen has now backed down and agreed to reconsider grants to Planned Parenthood.

By backing down from its strengthened grant standards, Komen has proven that (1) it has no integrity, and (2) it cares less about protecting life – in all of its forms – and more about protecting its reputation.

I will no longer be running the Komen Race for the Cure.  I cannot stand with an organization that refuses to stand up for itself.  As Amy pointed out, it’s ironic and shameful that Komen will fight tirelessly for the lives of adult women with breast cancer and not give any heed to the millions of lives of unborn women that are lost daily.

Unfortunately, it looks like the donations Komen received this week from the thousands of us who wanted to cheer the organization’s courage are non-refundable.  How convenient for Komen.  Calls to the Race headquarters go straight to voicemail, and messages are limited to only a few seconds – not long enough to even explain why I want a refund.

All of this is very disappointing, though I must admit not very surprising.  Unfortunately, we all too often see organizations bending over so as to not offend liberal constituencies.

I do see two silver linings though as I reflect on this sad turn of events.

1. Opponents of abortion are no longer ignorant of Komen’s support for Planned Parenthood.  The association between the two organizations was not widely known before, and this week’s public flip-flop has ensured that we will be much more careful in the future about where our money goes.
2. We are reminded why the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) is so desperately important.  Just as public backlash led Komen to back down today, the FEP uses the will of the American people to pressure CEOs of large corporations to back down from using corporate dollars to support liberal causes.

If you’re unfamiliar with the effectiveness of the FEP, check out its recent victory pertaining to the Ford Motor Company as one example.  I encourage you to use the money you would have sent to Komen to instead support the work of the FEP by donating here.  The events of this week demonstrate that organizations will run if their reputation is on the line — and the FEP is a great warrior for our side with demonstrated effectiveness and honorable goals in sight.