Susan Goodman must be rolling over in her grave.

In 1980, a young woman from Peoria, Illinois died of breast cancer. Her name was Susan Goodman Komen. Her sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker, decided to do something about the scourge of breast cancer and founded the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Sister Nancy proved to be a serious go-getter. In addition to making her sister's name a household word, she raised fortunes for breast cancer research, education, advocacy, health services and social support. Under her tutelage, Susan G Komen For The Cure, as it's now known, developed a pink ribbon brand that graces coffee mugs, clothing, license plates—even Nascars, virtually inventing the lucrative "cause marketing" industry.
One might've thought that with all this money pouring into The Cure during the last 25-plus years, we'd have a Cure already. It's true that deaths due to breast cancer have been steadily declining in the United States since 1990, and surely we can thank Brinker's aggressive campaign at least in part. But this past week, Sister Nancy's organization virtually guaranteed that breast cancer deaths will start to climb up again, especially among poor women. That's when Sister Nancy's breast-cancer enterprise decided to withhold funding from Planned Parenthood because the latter organization is "under investigation" by a handful of Congressional wingnuts.

During FY 2010, Sister Nancy's enterprise expended 13% of its funds, or nearly $47 million, on health screening. Much of that money went to Planned Parenthood, which performs breast exams and mammograms, in addition to other health screens, primarly on poor women. At the same time, Sister Nancy's enterprise spent $140 million, or nearly 40% of its funds on "public health education," or shall we say awareness-raising—you know, walks, runs and car races, pink-cupped Yoplait and pink-bucketed Kentucky Fried. Good for them for creating the demand for early detection. But by cutting off one of the primary sources for such early detection programs among poor women, the organization has figuratively told these women to drop dead.

Susan Goodman grew up in a Jewish family in the 1940s, where I presume (and hope) that Jewish values were taught and practiced. I'm sure Susan learned early on that in order to be Godly, we must follow God's example. Our ancient texts are replete with admonitions to care for the sick and needy. Sisty Nancy must've slept through Sunday School.

It should also be noted that, in addition to a very pricey "awareness" program, Sister Nancy's organization spends more than 21% of the money it collects on fundraising and administrative costs. Compare that with 16% spent by Planned Parenthood, and that in the face of constant public trashing by right-wing pro-life interests. Perhaps its time for people of good conscience to put away their pink tshirts and walking shoes and start contributing to the organization that really cares for and about women's health.