Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Diocese of Little Rock is urging its members not to donate to a breast cancer foundation

Saw this in the news this morning and it really burns me up. On one hand the Catholic church is quite reasonable and even supportive of medical science and research, then they stand in the way of it at the same time:

Catholics asked to stop Komen donations

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Diocese of Little Rock is urging its members not to donate to a breast cancer foundation known for its fundraising races across the globe because the group supports Planned Parenthood.

The diocese says the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, which has invested about $1 billion in cancer outreach and research, gives money to Planned Parenthood to hold breast exams and offer education to women in its clinics.

“Donors cannot control how an organization designates its funds,” a diocese statement reads. “Therefore, money donated for a specific service … directly frees up funds to support other areas of an organization’s agenda.”

Marianne Linane, director of the diocese’s “respect life” office, said those other agendas includes abortions and contraceptive services. The Catholic church’s policy is that abortion is wrong in every instance.

[But allowing women to die from breast cancer is ok?]

Linane said the Little Rock diocese, which oversees all churches in Arkansas, used the same statement sent out by the church’s St. Louis diocese last year. However, the end of the Little Rock letter included addresses of Arkansas hospitals parishioners could donate to that would eliminate “the administrative funds for a middle broker.”

Monsignor J. Gaston Hebert sent the statement to parishes and Catholic schools this month and planned to send out a follow-up letter, Linane said. Hebert did not return a call for comment Tuesday.

Little Rock follows other dioceses in raising concerns with the foundation. In 2005, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston abandoned its support of the foundation, while in 2006 the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix took issue over Komen’s Planned Parenthood funding.

Rebecca Gibson, a spokeswoman for the Komen foundation, said the group invested $69.6 million in more than 1,600 community-based education and screening programs during 2007. Planned Parenthood received less than 1 percent of that money, she said.

“It’s insignificant in relation to all of the funding we do,” Gibson said. “I think it’s just really unfortunate undue attention is being shed on organizations that are providing vital services in those communities.”

The diocese’s decision comes as northwest Arkansas prepares for its running of the Race for the Cure on April 19.

Officials estimated Little Rock’s running last year brought out more than 43,000 participants and raised more than $1.65 million.

13 comments:

CyberKitten said...

Well... you just have to admit it - The Church does have seriously screwed up priorities....

Spirula said...

The Church does have seriously screwed up priorities....

Yeah, well atheists can't be trusted because they get they're morals from sappy things like compassion, sympathy, empathy, and a respect for the privacy of others (whatever the hell those are). Instead they should be like True Christians, who have morals because of a righteous fear that The Invisible Peeping Tom in the Sky will catch you diddling yourself, or "pulling out", or sticking your icky stuff in the wrong hole, and then He'll spit-roast your sorry ass...forever!
(heh,heh! "He'll hell you" heh,heh!)

So there, saps!

jhbowden said...

I'm going to play the angel's advocate. One, the Catholics here are not standing in the way of any research.

Consider this. First, just because I do not give any money to Burger King does not mean I am actively opposing Burger King. The case above is more like a Muslim not giving money to the Party of God (the Hezb'Allah). Even though the Party of God does good works, part of that money also goes to terrorism. If a Muslim refrains from giving money to the Party of God, it does not mean the same person opposes helping those genuinely in need.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation is not entitled to Catholic money any more than a fascist organization like Planned Parenthood is. If one knows anything about the history of Planned Parenthood, the Church's position would become more clear. Margaret Sanger, for instance, was a white supremacist who spoke at KKK rallies-- her mission in life was to stop the "inferior races" from breeding. Sanger also had a strong prejudice against Roman Catholics, who she thought were enemies of democracy. Just as she opposed Al Smith in 1928 because of his religion, she strongly opposed JFK in 1960 and voted Republican on that basis.

Planned Parenthoods are strategically placed near black neighborhoods, and abortion kills more black people every year than heart disease, cancer, AIDS, accidents and violent crime COMBINED. Even today, I've heard secular progressives justify abortion to me not in terms of women's rights, but so blacks and other undesirables don't breed and commit crimes down the road. I kid you not.

Planned Parenthood is a disgusting atavism of the eugenics movement, and if the Church doesn't want to recommend it for funding by its members, their priorities are completely in the right place.

Stardust said...

jhbowden

The article states that the Susan G. Komen Cure foundation has invested about $1 billion in cancer outreach and research and Planned Parenthood received less than 1 percent of that money. The Diocese is encouraging the withholding of that huge sum because they have a problem where a tiny percentage goes and justify that withholding with their own particular brand of religious beliefs.

jhbowden said...

Stardust--

Would you give to *any* organization that gave 1% of their money to the KKK? If not, then you understand how the Catholics feel about Klanned Parenthood.

:)

Stardust said...

But the organization isn't asking the Catholic church for anything. The Catholic church is encouraging individuals not to give to an organization that raises lots of money for cancer research and is a private organization not a government one. I don't think the Catholic church should dictate to people who they should donate their money to.

Tommykey said...

Don't feed the troll Star.

Planned Parenthood was there for me during my darkest time as an adult when I feared a terrible mistake I had made would cost me everything. And I say that as a white male.

Planned Parenthood is not just about abortion. They provide birth control and STD testing, among other services.

I am proud to support Planned Parenthood.

Stardust said...

Hi tommy, yes Planned Parenthood does much good. It provides a place to get free or discounted contraceptives, free counseling for pregnant women, sex education, vitamins for pregnant women, a whole lot of things. Too bad some only think of it in conjunction with bits of past history that are no longer relevant.

Stardust said...

Planned Parenthood services include abortion services, contraceptive (birth control) services; emergency contraception; screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers; pregnancy testing and pregnancy options counseling; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; sexuality education, menopause treatments; vasectomies and tubal ligations, and more to people who could not otherwise afford these services.

Andrea said...

I plan to use PP to get birth control pills soon, as I am one of those uninsured scum that Americans seem to hate.

Stardust said...

yeah andrea...you are just a scumball. ;) LOL...people just don't fully understand what Planned Parenthood is about, and it's biggest critics have never had need to consider even using their services.

My husband's crappy assy insurance (Humanasucks) through his company does not cover birth control pills. I don't think many people know that many insurance companies will not cover contraceptives.

Andrea said...

We used to have coverage through my husband's old job but now he's an independent contractor and insurance is so expensive, for us it's a choice between groceries or insurance.

Not covering bc pills is outrageous. I don't want to face an unwanted pregnancy, hence I need those pills or an IUD.

As for abortion critics, I find that they are more in the "do as I say, not as I do" school of thought. Among many other issues, there is some strong cognitive dissonance going on there. You might find this interesting:
http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/anti-tales.shtml

Andrea said...

http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles
/anti-tales.shtml

hope that works