Bob CollinsThe more we hear about The Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood, the more we wonder how they ever got together in the first place.
On MPR’s Midmorning, this morning, Melinda Henneberger of the Washington Post, who writes on the She the People blog, considered the deep political ties of each side involved in Komen’s decision to pull a grant from Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening.
Nancy Brinker, the CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the sister of Susan G. Komen, is a well-connected Republican.
Brinker and her husband donated $125,000 to Republicans in the 2001-2003 election cycle, shortly before President Bush appointed her ambassador to Hungary.
“Komen, maybe not so incidentally, has a new relationship with the George W. Bush Institute, which is the policy arm of the presidential library which will open next year,” she said. “And Planned Parenthood has strong Democratic ties. Its president, Cecile Richards, (is) the daughter of former late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, who was defeated by George W. Bush.”
How badly will Komen’s decision hurt Planned Parenthood? Not much, apparently. In the 24 hours since the decision was announced, small donors contributed more than $650,000 to Planned Parenthood, nearly matching the $680,000 grant Komen pulled, according to Henneberger.
