Planned Parenthood Kicked to the Curb!

For years, faithful Catholics have boycotted Komen's fundraising efforts for its unconscionable relationship with Planned Parenthood, which received $650,000 from Komen in 2011. And if Planned Parenthood's complicity in the deaths of millions of unborn children were not bad enough, the link between it and Komen was especially galling given the copious research showing that abortion dramatically increases a woman’s chances of breast cancer.

For Catholic breast cancer survivors especially, Komen's support of Planned Parenthood often left them feeling marginalized. "I've always felt cheated because I couldn't morally participate in 'pink' events," says Birgit, one of our contributors who is a seven-year breast cancer survivor. She hated having to inform well-meaning friends who wanted to honor her family by raising money for Komen that she couldn't accept due to the charity's relationship with an abortion provider. "Understandably, they felt chastised for doing a good deed," she says.

Komen's support of Planned Parenthood also was troubling for Erika, another of our contributors who is a three-year breast cancer survivor diagnosed at 20 weeks pregnant. She shared her story recently with our readers, including the pressure she resisted to abort her now two-year-old daughter. "Prolife Catholics have always loved women enough to support them and their unborn children during crisis pregnancies," Erika says.

Though most pregnant women diagnosed with breast cancer are encouraged to abort, Erika found that research shows instead that women who elect to continue their pregnancies actually have a better survival rate than their counterparts who abort. Her experiences inspired Erika to develop Catholic Sistas' own unique ribbon (see below) to support breast cancer awareness and research, which reflects the Catholic belief that both mother and child deserve to be protected from the disease.

To read the entire article got to Yes! Komen Kicks Planned Parenthood to the Curb  on the Catholic Sistas blog site.

Other relevant posts:

• Taking Back the Pink
• Don't Pink: help a victim
• Pink Betrayal
• When 'I'm Pro-life Except' Really Happens
• Breast Cancer and Pregnant