“Politics have no place in health care. Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care. We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way.”

The first known use of a pink ribbon in connection with breast cancer awareness was in the fall of 1991, when the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_G._Komen_Foundation - Susan G. Komen Foundation  handed out pink  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_%28award%29 - ribbons  to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon#cite_note-0 - [1]}

The pink ribbon was adopted as the official symbol of  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Breast_Cancer_Awareness_Month - National Breast Cancer Awareness Month  the next year, in 1992. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon#cite_note-Sulik47-1 - [2]}  The pink ribbon was derived from the popular  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_ribbon - red ribbon  for  http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AIDS_awareness&action=edit&redlink=1 - AIDS awareness .  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Penney - Alexandra Penney , the editor-in-chief of the women's health magazine  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_%28magazine%29 - Self , and breast cancer survivor  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Lauder - Evelyn Lauder , ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon#cite_note-cnn-2 - [3]}  the senior corporate vice president at the cosmetics company  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Est%C3%A9e_Lauder_Companies - Estée Lauder  created a ribbon for the cosmetics giant to distribute in stores in New York City.

Estée Lauder and Self initially approached  http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlotte_Haley&action=edit&redlink=1 - Charlotte Haley , who had began a peach-coloured ribbon campaign to press the  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cancer_Institute - National Cancer Institute  to increase its budget for cancer prevention research. Haley refused to be part of what she felt was a commercial effort, so Estée Lauder and Self changed the color of their ribbon to pink, to circumvent Haley's efforts to stop them. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon#cite_note-Barnard-3 - [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon#cite_note-Campbell-4 - [5]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon

In addition to pulling funds from Planned Parenthood,  http://www.care2.com/causes?s=komen - The Susan G. Komen Foundation  also decided to  http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/01/komen-also-stops-funding-embryonic-stem-cell-research-centers/ - stop funding embryonic stem cell research centers , making it fully transparent the organization has evolved from non-political non-profit to a partisan advocacy organization.

That means the loss of $3.75 million to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, $4.5 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center, $1 million to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, $1 million to the Society for Women’s Health Research, and $600,000 to Yale University. That’s a loss of nearly $12 million dollars in research money to eradicate breast cancer this year alone.

This is a new position for the organization which had previously supported all sorts of scientific research targeted at finding a cure for breast cancer and saving women’s lives. Its new position is that the organization will categorically no longer support any embryonic stem cell research.

AUSTIN, TX, Feb 03, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Today, LIVESTRONG(R) is joining Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the philanthropic community in their efforts to preserve access to cancer screening for women throughout the United States by donating $100,000 to Planned Parenthood.

Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, champion cyclist and LIVESTRONG founder and chairman, issued the following statement:

"For 15 years, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has served people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. We join Mayor Bloomberg and our partners in the philanthropic community today in their efforts to preserve access to cancer screening for women throughout the U.S. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will add an additional $100,000 to Mayor Bloomberg's matching challenge for Planned Parenthood's cancer services fund.

"As Dr. King said, 'there is no greater injustice than inequality in health care.' Cancer, on the other hand, respects no boundaries. It's a big, vicious disease that has no regard for race, gender, income or which side of the aisle we call home. Its survivors -- 12 million of us throughout the U.S. -- deserve every bit of support we can muster. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will continue working to expand access to healthcare as we always have."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/livestrongr-joins-mayor-michael-bloomberg-and-philanthropic-partners-in-their-efforts-to-preserve-access-to-cancer-screening-for-women-with-a-100000-donation-t - http://www.marketwatch.com/story/livestrongr-joins-mayor-michael-bloomberg-and-philanthropic-partners-in-their-efforts-to-preserve-access-to-cancer-screening-for-women-with-a-100000-donation-to-planned-parenthood-2012-02-03

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/susan-g-komen-foundation-takes-steps-to-rebuild-trust-after-pr-fiasco/2012/02/04/gIQAdljRqQ_story.html - http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/susan-g-komen-foundation-takes-steps-to-rebuild-trust-after-pr-fiasco/2012/02/04/gIQAdljRqQ_story.html

Now Komen executives are faced with the task of  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/irrevocable-damage-24-hours-in-the-life-of-a-komen-executive/2012/02/04/gIQAKPLqpQ_blog.html?tid=pm_business_pop - restoring credibility  to one of the strongest brands in the nonprofit world.

Brendan Daly, an executive vice president at Ogilvy public relations, confirmed that Komen had sought Ogilvy’s help this week. Brinker told affiliates Saturday that they would also be getting help on crisis communications from Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary in the George W. Bush administration. Neither consultant was involved in the funding decision.

“People may now question the role political ideology plays in their decision-making, and that didn’t enter into people’s minds in the past,” said Lee Lynch, who heads health-care advocacy and does crisis management for Edelman Communications. “So they’re going to have to deal with that perception.”

Some corporate sponsors are reviewing their partnerships. Komen affiliates have already lost donations and Race for the Cure sponsorships. in New York, the Tocqueville Restaurant e-mailed a “note of concern” Saturday to patrons, notifying them that it was no longer donating proceeds to Komen from a special dinner Tuesday because of “the recent events.”

Honest Tea, the Bethesda-based company that began partnering with Komen two years ago, is pausing to rethink its options. It donated $100,000 to Komen last year. While the amount is small compared with donations from other large corporations, Komen is one of Honest Tea’s largest partnerships with a nonprofit group, said company president Seth Goldman.

How To Destroy A Reputation In Less Than A Week: Komen And Planned Parenthood

http://www.forbes.com/politics/ - Politics  and women’s health issues have always made strange bedfellows, but never more than in the past week. And never more than in an election year.

In one of the more bizarre series of actions I have ever witnessed as a crisis manager, Susan G. Komen for the Cure completely compromised its sterling reputation by first caving in to one set of political pressures, and then another. And in the process, they left us all wondering who these people really are, and what they stand for.

What is Komen’s Role in this Future?

• Remember that Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a nonprofitorganization, not a nonprofit corporation as  http://komenwatch.org/quotes/#nancybrinker - Nancy Brinker  refers to it. Act according to sound ethical principles befitting of a nonprofit.

• Cease partnerships with corporate sponsors who engage in “pinkwashing.”

• Stop strong-arming other organizations over the phrase “for the cure.” Trademark or not, Komen does not own this common language. Support your sister organizations.

• Act in accordance with the mission of being “for the cure” and make research the top funding priority.

• Stop producing messaging and education programs that promote simplistic early detection and lifestyle prevention measures. Early detection is a misnomer for many cancers, and it is no guarantee of a cure.

• Partner with other breast cancer organizations to produce and disseminate evidence-based breast cancer awareness and education resources. Doing so will result in costs savings and economic synergies.

• Consider the power of social media and other original ideas in your fundraising efforts. Too many precious resources are being wasted on holding grandscale fundraising events.

• Prioritize funding and advocate for real prevention by commissioning studies on environmental factors, and by lobbying congress for legislation to stop corporate polluting and the manufacturing and marketing of known carcinogens.

• Fund research studies that encompass 10-year, 20-year, 30-year periods to gain a better understanding of survival and mortality statistics for ALL stages of disease. Scientists knowthat five-year survival statistics are inaccurate representations of breast cancer survivorship.

• Recognize the needs of women living with metastatic breast cancer; prioritize research funding in this area.

• Expand your vision to include other women’s cancers, particularly those that are known or suspected to be associated with the breast cancer genes (e.g. ovarian and colon cancers), those that can result from breast cancer treatments (e.g., uterine cancer, leukemia, and lymphomas), and those with similar causation.