Susan, of the Susan G Komen for the Cure, you and I need to have a talk.  My eyes used to well up with tears whenever I would see one of your commercials advertising the Race for the Cure (the name of which you have taken other organizations to court for using if there were any smiliarities in their fundraiser's name and yours).  Those women and their family members giving their testimonials on television take me back to when I was six years old, and my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the subsequent memories of her treatment and the emotional scars that still exist for us all.  They take me back to when I was nine years old, and there was a scare that it had come out of remission.  They take me back to my senior year in college, when another scare occurred, and once again, two years ago, when we had our closest call to date that involved a very invasive biopsy and a fight with the insurance company.  They remind me of my own vulnerability and that I am one of the luckiest people on earth to still have my mom.

I have been proud to support the cause and talk to people about the need to Educate.  Advocate.  Eradicate.  I have been proud of entities such as yours that support women.  You have supported women.  You have claimed your unending support for them, no matter their race, religion, financial status, location, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.  Until now.  Now, you have betrayed women.

It was (finally) publicly announced - about two months after the decision was initially handed down - that you, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, are no longer giving grants for breast cancer screenings and care to poor and underserved women who use the care given at Planned Parenthood facilities.  Your reasoning is a matter of policy.  You have conveniently just revised your policy regarding the awarding of grants so that those organizations who are currently under investigation by legal bodies such as Congress may not receive your funds. 

Because of our Congress's latest and greatest witch hunt instituted by those in this country who view women as people who do not deserve proper medical care, who should have no authority in the decision making process regarding their own bodies, who should remain under the thumb of an archaic and mythological moral code, who are no more valuable than their the number of children their wombs can bear, who are nothing more than disposable and do not deserve the same consideration as men in regards to medical care, you have denied these women access to life saving care. 

Are you now of the same mind that if women can't afford it, they don't deserve it?  Are you now of the same mind that the health of all women don't matter?  Are you now of the ilk that discriminates against women under the guise of following procedures?  Whatever you are, Susan G. Komen, you have abandoned your cause to save the lives of women regardless of their status.  A poor woman's life is no less valuable than my mother's or mine, but because a woman is poor, she will more than likely not receive the preventative care she needs - all in thanks to you and your "policy."

Your decision to modify your policy so that it coincidentally affects Planned Parenthood is a-moral, unconsciounable, and plain wrong.  You have effectively disenfranchised those whom you seek to save, and turned yourself into a right wing political entity, whether or not that was your intent - although something inside of me says that it was based upon your representatives' behavior regarding this matter.  I will no longer support you, Susan G. Komen.  So, do us all a favor, and stop wearing pink. 

*To clarify, I am aware that Susan G Komen is deceased.  I speak personally to the organization as a whole, using her name as its representative as that is how people identify it.