February 6, 2012
Losing a loved one to cancer is a sobering experience. Watching them go through the pain of dealing with the dreadful disease - from losing their hair to vomiting from chemotherapy to just always being sick - is horrendous. But then living with the knowledge, or expectancy even, that you will be the next one to suffer from cancer is not a pleasant reality.
My grandmother died recently. She had breast cancer - twice - but it was ovarian cancer that ultimately claimed her life. As her granddaughter and the granddaughter of two other grandparents who had cancer, I live in fear that I will be next. When will the doctor give me the dreaded diagnosis? When will I have to tell my two little boys that mommy is going to sick for awhile?
The support network for a person living with cancer, especially breast cancer, is crucial to her well-being and hopeful recovery. For years I have seen groups of people wearing the pink ribbons, symbolizing their support for ending breast cancer because they had lost a loved one or maybe had been diagnosed themselves with cancer.
There isn’t anyone who is against finding a cure for breast cancer, at least that’s what I figured until the outbreak of rash attacks were unleashed on the largest breast cancer charity, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, when it was revealed they were no longer going to fund Planned Parenthood.
I knew that Komen funded Planned Parenthood for years and despite my grandmother’s battle with breast cancer, I refused to give money to Komen for that very reason. Planned Parenthood, despite their claims to care about women’s health and do mammograms (they don’t perform mammograms at all, only refer), they are the nation’s largest provider of abortions. Who can blame Komen for getting out of the abortion wars and deciding not to fund an organization that merely refers women for mammograms?
For Planned Parenthood, they needed Komen. They barely needed the money, which was a drop in the bucket for the $1 billion organization. They needed the good name of Komen because Planned Parenthood’s name has been dragged through the mud for the past couple years as video after video surfaced of their staff outrightly ignoring mandatory reporting laws for statutory rape and aiding and abetting sex trafficking of minors. For these offenses and others, like defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars through Medicaid, the group is under investigation by the federal government and many states - as they should be.
The Komen name, with all of its pretty pink products and good deeds of actually helping women through providing millions of dollars for research and support, was a stamp of approval on Planned Parenthood. Without them, the abortion giant is an unsavory, immoral and possibly criminal organization. With a laundry list of offenses and facing a Congressional investigation, why is it any surprise a relatively drama-free organization, whose only concern is to help prevent and treat breast cancer, would cut them off?
Planned Parenthood and their supporters showed their true colors by viciously attacking an organization that has done nothing but offer tremendous support for breast cancer victims and their families. The abortion giant only cares about money and making sure that women of all ages have the right to kill their unborn children.
I’d rather focus on saving lives, unborn and born, and especially those women and their families who have been affected by breast cancer. The Komen Foundation, unfortunately, found out what happens when you cross the largest provider of abortions in the nation.
Let’s hope that other organizations see what a nightmare it has been for Komen and refuse to even think about giving money to Planned Parenthood.
See More "Right Views, Right Now"
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Bee's Note:
Kristan Hawkins could have been writing about me. I am a breast cancer survivor; and have undergone two battles with ovarian cancer. And, I am a grandmother. I also knew about Komen's support for Planned Parenthood and for that reason, did not contribute to their organization. However, everyone should know that it is the Komen organization that does far more then others post; they produce remarkable information and pamphlets that enable someone who is first diagnosed with cancer, to come to grips with that first pronouncement that "you have cancer"! They are a great "support" group for those undergoing treatment for cancer. They should not be blackballed now, for taking a courageous step in separating their good name from Planned Parenthood.
I hear they folded under pressure, by Planned Parenthood, but that could change swiftly if everyone who cares about life - not just the lives of those with cancer, or survivors of cancer - but also, for all life would contact the Susan G. Komen organization and let them know they will gain threefold the support they had, if they stay courageous and make a CLEAN BREAK from Planned Parenthood.
The latest photo, from my family pictures, is of my first "great" grandchild, "Bella" with her mommy .. I entitle this "Love is beautiful" and all life is precious.
"Love is beautiful - Life is precious"
See: February 7, 2012 The Hidden Agenda Behind the Media War on Komen, by Lynn Woolley, posted on Family Security Matters.