As many of you know, I have walked in the Susan G. Komen 3Day for the cure many times and have been a strong supporter of their cause to cure breast cancer. I was about to sign up to walk in my 5th Susan G. Komen 3Day for the Cure, but something held me back.
Due to the political decisions SGK has made of late, not only have I lost some of my biggest financial supporters, but I myself am not sure if I can continue supporting a cause I have spent the last 6 years working to help.
I don't believe in abortion, but I do believe in women taking care of their bodies...even when they don't have insurance. Planned Parenthood is so much more than abortions. It's a place for women of all ages to get an annual exam who might otherwise not. It's a place for pregnant women of all ages to get prenatal care who might otherwise not. It's a place for women of all ages to get cancer screenings who. might. otherwise. not.
SGK keeps making these claims that those of us who are opposed to their choice to stop funding for Planned Parenthood are losing sight of the goal. They say we're not standing together as a family, that we can't let the negative talk surrounding this decision to get us off track. They say we will be bigger, better, stronger when we all stand as one going into this year's 3Day.
But there is a flaw in their logic. SGK isn't the only breast cancer supporter. There are other's working towards the same goal: a cure for breast cancer. A cure for cancer. My guess is that SGK's loss will be Avon and other's gain.
I had never known about or even considered the link between SGK and PP in the past. This is where I'm torn. I didn't know before that they supported PP and I walked in four 3Days. But now I know they no longer support PP. Should my allegiance change? If it's something I hadn't taken into account prior to all of this press, then I'm not sure that it should. On the other hand, it's not so much that they don't support PP, it's that they made the conscious and political decision to stop that bothers me. While I hadn't thought about it before, I now know that I wasn't just walking for women who have good health insurance. I was walking for every woman (and men, too) who face their own fight against breast cancer.
I'm not trying to start a debate. And I'm sure I don't know everything there is to know about this issue (I'm told that I shouldn't get all of my current events knowledge from Facebook). If you have an opinion, share it. Respectfully, please. I haven't made up my mind, but I know which way I'm leaning. And it makes me sad.
