A victory for the pro-life cause in the United States...not...

Like others who have been fighting for decades on behalf of the cause of life in the United States, The Motley Monk was lavish in his praise for the Susan G. Komer Foundation which decided earlier in the week to defund Planned Parenthood.  While the war would continue, The Motley Monk observed, Komer's defunding of Planned Parenthood sent a powerful message that the cause of life was on the pathway to victory.

Not.

When the decision (made in December 2011) was announced on Tuesday, the Foundation was deluged by an emerging form of communication, "online outrage."  The negative fallout resulting from the decision was of such magnitude that the Foundation's leadership reversed its decision and will again fund Planned Parenthood.

According to the New York Times, the Foundation's leadership was standing firm as late as Thursday, communicating with supporters on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Longtime supporters, including corporate sponsors and scientific and medical professionals, however, weren't convinced, with some of Komen's longtime supporters angered that the fight against breast cancer had been drawn into partisan battles.  By Friday, more than 1.3M posts mentioning Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation as well as related terms and hashtags appeared on Twitter, with 460k+ Tweets posted on Thursday.

Then, too, there was a letter that Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) had written and 26 U.S. Senators had signed, calling on Komen to reverse its decision.

In response to all of the negative fallout, the Foundation's CEO, Nancy G. Brinker, said in a statement:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.

The Motley Monk thinks the President of of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, couldn't have been happier about all of the controversy fanned into flamed following the Foundation's announcement. After all, her organization raised nearly $3M for its breast cancer programs during the week, four times its annual Komen grant. Richards said:

I think there's really been a chord struck over this issue, this issue of political organizations who are trying to politicize women's reproductive health. This kind of political bullying---I think folks are just saying, "Enough."

But, really, who is bullying who?

When it comes to external funding to provided its so-called "women's reproductive and health services," The Motely Monk would observe---as has been manifest in this week's dramatic reversal of policy by the Susan G. Komer Foundation---Planned Parenthood will spare no muscle to bully organizations into paying up or paying the price.

To those fighting for the cause of life, The Motley Monk says "Take it on the chin and soldier on!"


Let the discussion begin...




To read the New York Times article, click on the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/health/policy/komen-breast-cancer-group-reverses-decision-that-cut-off-planned-parenthood.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2&pagewanted=all