Breast Cancer Foundation Gave More Than $500K to Planned Parenthood Last Year

Affiliates of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer foundation gave more than half a million dollars to Planned Parenthood in 2010, according to federal tax records.

The American Life League obtained copies of the financial documents, which totaled donations from 18 Komen affiliates at $569,159.

Affiliates in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington all gave money. You can view a full spreadsheet of the donations here.

According to the data, the Dallas County chapter donated the largest amount, giving $68,000 to Planned Parenthood of North Texas. The Orange County, Calif. chapter gave the second-highest amount at $58,754.

Nevertheless, the $569,159 tag is lower than the donations from 2009, which totaled $731,303. Last year, a Komen spokesman said in an interview the money is closely monitored to ensure it goes to fund only breast screenings, not abortions.

Rita Diller, director of the American Life League's Stop Planned Parenthood initiative, told Life News that aside from the abortion issue, it doesn't make sense for Komen to donate money to Planned Parenthood when the organization does not provide any kind of advanced breast care, including mammograms.

"Komen’s support of Planned Parenthood is defeating its own mission of fighting breast cancer," Diller said. "In the first place, Planned Parenthood is not licensed to do anything beyond Level 1 breast examinations....Add to that the fact that Planned Parenthood’s two big money-makers, abortion and contraceptives, are directly linked to breast cancer by numerous studies conducted from the 1960s through the present."

Diller also told Life News she was disappointed that the Komen affiliates donating money included chapters in urban areas where alternatives to Planned Parenthood are available.

“To say that there is no other alterative in such areas for women to receive breast cancer screening and care is preposterous,” she said.

A Jan. 2010 study from the Seattle Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center called abortion a "known risk factor" for breast cancer, reporting a 20 to 50 percent increased chance for cancer among women who had had an abortion compared to women who carried their pregnancies to term.

The National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health does not currently recognize any such link.