Susan G. Komen charity cuts off grants to Planned Parenthood

The nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, will no longer give hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to Planned Parenthood, according to the Associated Press.

Planned Parenthood received $680,000 in 2011 and $580,000 in 2010 from Komen for breast-cancer screening and related services. Nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams were supported by Komen grants.

Komen said they were halting their partnership with the women's health center because of recently adopted criteria prohibiting grants to organizations under local, state, or federal investigation.

Planned Parenthood is under currently under investigation in Congress, an investigation spearheaded by anti-abortion Republicans.

"It’s hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women’s lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told The Associated Press. "It’s really hurtful."

The investigation, ordered by the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee chairman, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), has largely been seen by Planned Parenthood advocates as the latest Republican line of attack against the agency, which provides more low-cost women’s health services than any organization in the country.

The use of public funds for elective abortion procedures is prohibited by law, and the group insists they do not put tax dollars to use for such purposes. Planned Parenthood is audited every year, and the results are published online.

Nancy Brinker, the founder of Komen, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and one of former President George W. Bush's "Pioneers," who gathered $100,000 for his campaign.

Photo credit: ProgressOhio