The Susan G. Komen Foundation’s approach to curing breast cancer has always seemed to me slightly annoying, in the Avon ‘sell-a-thon’ style — ‘fun runs,’ pink ribbons everywhere, relentless marketing — but, I figured like many, if it’s for a good cause, then so be it. Now that we know trogs like ex-Bush spokes-liar Ari Fleischer are deep and thick with the people who run Komen such as Nancy Brinker, its director, and he secretly vetted the hiring of top officials of the organization, I think it’s time to run Komen out of the business. They seem to care more about their dumb events, marketing ploys and sticking their snout into politics, such as the recent but short-lived war against Planned Parenthood, than curing breast cancer. Here, Nona Willis Aronowitz at Good.is informs us of five different ways to donate money to breast cancer research and give the misbegotten Komen Foundation the pink slip:
If you’re pissed off, show it with your dollars—even if you can only part with a few of them. And afterwards, be sure to tell the Komen Foundation where your money went.
Donate to Planned Parenthood. The obvious choice is to compensate for what Planned Parenthood has lost. The organization received $680,000 from Susan G. Komen last year alone, and virtually every dollar was used for breast exams. That leaves a gaping hole in their funding. Help fill it here (and make sure to mark it “for breast cancer screenings”).
Support a breast cancer organization with some integrity. Not every organization will sell out women’s health to please anti-abortion rights legislators. Some anti-cancer advocacy groups make their feminist messages explicit and central. Breast Cancer Action, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, and the Women’s Community Cancer Project are three that have genuinely feminist roots.
Help the women the Komen Foundation has ignored. Awareness isn’t enough—some women just can’t afford breast cancer screenings. Women of color and poor women will be hurt most by the foundation’s decision. Donating to places like the African American Breast Cancer Alliance or Black Women’s Health Imperative will help these women get the medical attention they need.
Prop up a pro-choice, pro-woman organization. A strike against Planned Parenthood is a strike against women’s health in general. If breast cancer is too specific a cause for you, donate to a women-centered organization that provides crucial sex and health information, like Our Bodies, Ourselves or the National Women’s Health Network.
Support your local women’s clinic. Planned Parenthood is the most ubiquitous group of health clinics in the country, but there are other local women’s health clinics that provide breast exams, and they’re likely struggling even more. Places like the Chicago Women’s Health Center or the Cedar River Clinics could really use some cash, too. Or donate to your local abortion fund—access to a safe abortion may be more of a political lightning rod than breast cancer screenings, but it’s no less essential.
Read the rest here.