Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Susan G Komen is No Longer Outlawed in our House!

Edit to Add:  Komen reversed their decision today, Friday, February 3rd.  Avoid them at all costs.  They fund a company that hands out class 1 carcinogens to women.  So much for fighting cancer.

 There are a lot of companies we avoid in this house.  We don't buy anything from Kraft, or the 100 or so other names they operate under (for example: A1, Country Time, Chips Ahoy, Cadbury, Balance bar, Fig Newton, Capri Sun, Maxwell House, Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Nabisco, Ritz, Toblerone, Triscuit, Teddy Grahams, Oscar Mire, Velveeta and Philadelphia (cream cheese) to name a few).  We avoid Nestle.  We've given up Pepsi products altogether.  And we bypass the table with Girl Scouts selling cookies in front of the supermarket (my own thoughts on this particular boycott are here).

These are all fairly recent changes that we've made, since it was revealed that these companies used fetal stem cells in their food testing, last spring (minus the Girl Scouts... that began a couple of years ago, because of the policies given in the articles sited).  But the above companies weren't the beginning of my super market boycott by a long shot.

No, my first boycott was any item with the name Susan G. Komen on it... and I'll admit that I hated to have to do it.  You see, I'm all for fighting breast cancer.  But just as much as I'm for fighting breast cancer, I'm against funding Planned Parenthood.  I know firsthand that the abortion giant is evil, having volunteered their through my "Catholic" college back before I was pro-life, and there's no way I'm going to be putting a penny towards helping them if I can avoid it.

So I would scan the items that I put into my cart for that little pink ribbon, and if I saw it, I'd quickly examine the little badge, hoping against hope that it was for some other organization.  More often than not it was for Komen, and we'd begin looking for alternatives, as we placed the item back on the shelf.

Yesterday, it was announced, that Komen is cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood.  The charity says that it's because they have a new policy that forbids donating to organizations that are under local, state or federal investigation (go Lila Rose!).  Will it last?  I have no idea.  I hope so.  I pray that it does!  But for a least a little while, I will be buying products without carefully examining the little pink ribbon!

And of course, if this does change, I'll let you know as soon as I know.  But I sure hope it doesn't!


  1. This got me so excited yesterday I called people to share it with them, like it was my own personal news. SO SO EXCITED. I would love to do some of their races or buy their products, or wear pink t-shirts, but I never could. I wrote them an email to tell them how happy I was! I don't know anyone that supports Komen...until now!!

  2. Apparently they are getting slammed with negative e-mails... write to to express your gratitude!

  3. Since at least some studies show a correlation between taking oral contraceptives and breast cancer, and between abortion and breast cancer, it has always seemed strange to me that Susan G Komen would partner with PP anyway. I know that some of the recent studies deny the connections, but in at least one case the study of abortion and breast cancer had some short comings in their methodology. In any case, there are no studies I'm aware of that say that abortion or oral contraceptive use helps prevent breast cancer.

    In light of recent advice that breast exams are not that helpful in finding tumors, it would seem to me that Susan G Komen could find a better organization to partner with than PP. Perhaps La Leche League? After all breastfeeding for long periods (i.e. a year or more) has been associated with a lower breast cancer risk. LLL provides support to mothers who are breastfeeding and helps them to achieve their breastfeeding goals. Seems like a much better match for SGK.

    Oh, and I like you had been boycotting them. Glad to not have to for the moment.

  4. SO glad to hear that!!! I'm a little disappointed that ALL didn't send an email out about it!

    The sad part? I was two seconds from sharing the article on my facebook and I didn't... out of fear of combox rant type stuff.

  5. This was AMAZING news to wake up to today. I seriously couldn't be happier. Some of my more "liberal" friends on facebook are upset and are accusing Komen of "politicizing" women's health, and they're super upset since Planned Parenthood offers mammograms (allegedly..I keep hearing mixed messages on whether or not they actually DO provide them). Can I just say -- WHATEVER! In my opinion, if Planned Parenthood was so concerned about REAL women's health -- like mammograms -- they would open a clinic JUST for mammograms! Or for cancer screenings! They would get no argument from me. God knows they have enough money, what with their $1 billion in profits from last year. Instead, PP opens abortion mills that may or may not do mammograms on the side. So much for women's health!

  6. Will this work?

    My husband is very anti-boycott... but this was one he had no problem doing. I saw the news yesterday and cheered. He did too.

  7. Is there a link with all the companies that should be boycotted?

  8. I'm very glad that they pulled their funding for PP, but I still don't like Komen for other reasons, including the fact that they bully small charities out of using the phrase "for the cure".

  9. Here are a couple links on why Komen is unsavory in ways unrelated to PP:

    Basically they ignore the idea of prevention of breast cancer, promote products that contain known carcinogens (fast food AND selling their own carcinogenic perfume on QVC), and sue small charities and fundraisers over the term "for the cure." They don't seem to care much for anything other than making money.

  10. OK, after posting enough negative stuff about Komen, I have to post this article stating that they've also cut off funding for embryonic stem cell research. Apparently one of their new admins is a pro-life advocate!


    I'm actually kind of excited about this!

  11. I sadly do not trust that the changes will last. So no donations from me for Komen. I'm also not very enamored of how little of the money they take in actually goes to cancer research. While I may not worry so much about avoiding the pink ribbon products, they will have to do better for me to get excited at what could be temporary.

  12. Agreed with Amanda and Ann - that's still why I intend to shirk Komen products. Until they get their heads back on straight, they won't be getting the nod from me.

    And that's sad, too.

    Miserable job they do as a "charity."

    But at least they're beginning to get back on track!

  13. It's unfortunate, that Komen just reversed their decision!!

  14. Luckily, at my grocery store, I've started to check the pink ribbon too because a lot of time they are actually NOT for Komen! Of course, that means I have to research them too to be sure. Komen...oh Komen...

