She said she has lost two sponsors for its Race for the Cure next fall.
“The sad thing about this is it’s detracted from what our real mission is, which is the same as Planned Parenthood, which is to save women’s lives,” she said.
The decision has prompted some groups to reconsider or drop their affiliation with Komen, while others are praising Komen for their stance.
A Yale University spokesman said the School of Public Health is reviewing its decision to have Brinker speak at this year’s commencement.
The District-based American Association of University Women, a national women’s advocacy group with 1,000 branches across the country, said Thursday that it would no longer collaborate with Komen. The AAUW said it would not list Komen among the community service opportunities available to the 600 college women expected to attend the AAUW’s annual leadership conference in June. The headquarters office will also no longer sponsor Washington teams in the Race for the Cure and expects its branches to follow suit, said Lisa Maatz, the AAUW’s director of public policy and government relations.
“This whole thing is quite regrettable, and we would really like to see a different outcome,” Maatz said.
Komen board member John Raffaelli said the board voted unanimously in October to change its grant-making criteria, including adding a rule that bans grants to organizations under investigation. During that discussion, Thompson “forewarned us that it would mean Planned Parenthood would get hit by this,” Raffaelli said.
A former Komen public health official, Mollie Williams, who allegedly resigned in protest after the board decision, declined to elaborate Thursday because she said she had to honor the confidentiality of her former employer. In a statement, she said she has spent her career fighting for the rights of the marginalized and underserved. “I believe it would be a mistake for any organization to bow to political pressure and compromise its mission.”
Komen had initially funded 19 Planned Parenthood affiliates but, because of the new funding policies, will continue funding only three of those.
“It was nothing they were doing wrong,” Brinker said of Planned Parenthood. “We have decided not to fund, wherever possible, pass-through grants. We were giving them money; they were sending women out for mammograms. What we would like to have are clinics where we can directly fund mammograms.”
The three that will continue to receive funds are in northern Colorado, Southern California and Waco, Tex., because “they are the only provider” of breast health services in the areas they serve, Brinker said.
Last year, Komen gave Planned Parenthood grants totaling $680,000.
In the past year, Americans United for Life has aggressively pushed Congress to end Planned Parenthood’s federal funding. It has also drafted model legislation that states can use to bar abortion providers from receiving federal funds. Nine states have passed such laws, although the Obama administration has blocked their implementation.
Yoest says the anti-abortion community is exploring ways to support Komen. For the first time, her group will have a team, called “Team Life,” in the D.C. Race for the Cure.
For some Washington residents who contributed to the D.C. Race for the Cure, one of the largest in the country, the decision by Komen is welcome.
Chris Barron, 38, of the District has participated in the Komen race in the city since 2002. He has briefly worked for Planned Parenthood and served as board chairman of GOProud, an organization of gay conservatives that has publicly called for Planned Parenthood to lose federal funding.
For years, Barron said, friends in his conservative circle have been concerned about donating to Komen because of the group’s affiliation with Planned Parenthood. But many of them set aside their political views to contribute.
“Now, the left is unwilling to do the same thing,” he said, calling it “disheartening.”
“This is not the place for them to wage a political fight over abortion. . . . Quite honestly, I can’t believe there aren’t more people outraged at the way Planned Parenthood is behaving.”
Staff researcher Lucy Shackelford and writer Theresa Vargas contributed to this report.
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