Posted on 02/02/2012 5:23:48 AM PST by NYer
In addition to stopping funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business, Komen for the Cure has also quietly stopped funding embryonic stem cell research centers, another concern for pro-life advocates.
As LifeNews reported last July, Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer spent time examining Komen’s 990 Forms for the IRS for 2010 and she found that Komen has active relationships with at least five research groups or educational facilities that engage in embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of unborn children in their earliest days for stem cells that have yet to help any patients.
The return showed donations from Komen totaling $3.75 million to 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. All of them have embryonic stem cell research programs.
On November 30, 2011, Komen quietly added a new statement to its web site stating that it does not support embryonic stem cell research but supports the kinds that do not involve the destruction of human life.
“Komen supports research on the isolation, derivation, production, and testing of stem cells that are capable of producing all or almost all of the cell types of the developing body and may result in improved understanding of or treatments for breast cancer, but are derived without creating a human embryo or destroying a human embryo,” Komen says. “A priority in our research funding is to quickly find and deliver effective treatments, especially for the most lethal forms of breast cancer, while seeking effective preventive strategies, enhanced screening methodologies, and solutions to disparities in breast cancer outcomes for diverse women.”
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Komen, in its listing of grants for 2011, lists two stem cell studies that do not involve the use of embryonic stem cells.
LifeNews talked with pro-life sources close to the Komen situation who confirmed Komen will categorically not fund any embryonic stem cell research and the purpose of the November 2011 statement is to inform grant seekers that Komen will not do so.
Komen’s funding for embryonic stem cell research centers was an issue for pro-life advocates. Recent statements from the Catholic Bishop of Toledo, the Most Reverend Leonard Blair, bring up both abortion and the potential of Komen indirectly supporting embryonic research as reasons for Catholics to have misgivings about the breast cancer group.
“They are open to embryonic stem cell research and may well fund such research in the future,” the bishop noted.
Meanwhile, as LifeNews reported, new Komen Vice President for public policy Karen Handel, a pro-life advocate for Georgia, also opposes embryonic stem cell research. She has been credited with being instrumental in helping stop the Planned Parenthood funding.
“I oppose embryonic stem cell research, which creates life solely for the purpose of destroying it. I do, however, strongly support adult stem cell research, which has produced numerous scientific achievements without terminating innocent lives in the process,” Handel said in 2010 as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Great news!
Komen is still getting attacked by Planned Parenthood hypocrites on their Facebook page. Some of them have been pretty nasty.
Well.....GOOD for them! Their organization will be greatly blessed due to all of this change. I refused to donate to them before...but now I can.
;-)
Another thought: Maybe some of the Komen researchers can also begin to look much more in depth at the abortion/breast cancer connection.
As embryonic stem cell research continues to come up with ZERO results Komen is simply the most recent of your more traditional “get a cure” type non-profit fundraisers to realize they’ve been wasting their money.
They have been financially supporting abortion for a long time and, if you read their position, you will know that they are not cutting funding, they are suspending it until results come back from a study.
Elective abortion is a risk factor in breast cancer. If Komen had been doing what it had claimed to have been doing, they would have known this as long ago as I did.
Common sense alone would have brought them to the theory that if one messes with hormones as what happens in abortion side effects occur. DUH! Then they would have turned to the studies that have already been done.
I just don’t see them as being sincere yet.
Komen is not doing its job until true reform is seen.
TRUST me....I won’t donate until I am SURE that the organization in NO way supports any part of the culture of death!
They would have to radically change their funding/spending. PP has them in a bind somehow- either that or the AMA does. The breast CA - abortion connection has been well studied and cited for many years, now.
I’ll be very surprised if they switch dependency away from the abortion mafia.
Well...let’s keep praying and encouraging them to do what is morally right!
;-)
They are doing the right thing. If Komen is going to be dedicated to the cause of saving lives, then they should be about saving all life.
Don’t worry....I’m not jumping in just yet. ;-)
I’m also in a *wait* mode....to be SURE.
;-)
Let’s do.
I hope you’ll excuse my attitude. Have been watching this for years and get testy.
Prayer is always the way to go.
I’m walking the 3day this year for the third time. The abortion issue has always bothered me. I have prayed about it a lot. On the walk I see women, mothers of small children, and some using walkers or wheelchairs, trying to get in a few miles each day. I see families of women who have died and I walk with a man whose wife died. It’s very emotional. They raised over $90 Million last year. Something like $6 hundred thousand went to PP. That was $6 thousand too much. They claimed it was given to PP so that PP would refer the women who come to them to get mammograms. They no longer will give money to those who refer to others but directly to the providers. It is now possible to get free mammograms and I have to think that’s because of Komen. It is now likely that a woman who gets breast cancer will survive. That wasn’t true ten years ago. I’m not a walker because I’m a huge supporter of Komen but I am and have been impressed with the organization. It’s been a great experience. As I was coming out of church one day troubling in my mind about the issue, I realized that there is money being given to the Catholic Church that ends up in the pockets of PP. Its all around us. I have to find the good in the person/organization/situation and go with that rather than wait for perfection to hit me in the face. So I walk with precious feet and wearing the t-shirt that says, “Everyone deserves a lifetime.” I have a rosary hanging from my lumbar pack and devotions on my iPhone. It’s been a very positive experience to train for and walk this walk.
Honestly, I never even THOUGHT of your comments as “testy.” Sum Pro Vita is Latin for I Am PRO-Life.
;-)
opps. I really need to proof read. It’s six hundred thousand too much.
A significant portion of the Methodist clergy I keep up with on FB are talking about how awful the Komen Foundation’s decision to stop funding PP is. These are - at least conceptually - men and women of God. I weep for my denomination knowing these idiots will be taking leadership positions in the future.
Embryonic stem cell research has not been shown to help anyone. A complete waste of money however the money is collected.
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