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Bloomberg Pledges Up To $250K To Planned Parenthood After Komen Foundation Pulls Funding

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg  (credit: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (credit: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pledging money to Planned Parenthood to offset funds that were cut by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer foundation.

WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb On The Story


The billionaire mayor has promised to match future donations to Planned Parenthood up to $250,000, mayoral spokeswoman Samantha Levine said Thursday. The organization uses the money for breast cancer screenings.

Bloomberg, a Democrat turned Republican turned independent, said politics “have no place” in health care.

“Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care,” he said in a written statement. “We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way.”

“The Mayor is stepping up and giving this gift is saying ‘do not politicize this issue.’ Women’s health just matters too much,” President and CEO of Planned Parenthood NYC, Joan Malin, told CBS 2′ s Dave Carlin.

Many donors and cancer research advocates were outraged after the Komen foundation said it was cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood because of new criteria for giving grants.

Critics, however, accused it of bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists.

On Wednesday, the Komen Foundation issued a statement saying “Our grant-making decisions are not about politics…Any efforts to make this political or leverage it for fundraising purposes would be a disservice to women.”

The national-level Planned Parenthood is the focus of a Capitol Hill investigation into its use of taxpayer funds.  Komen Foundation founder Nancy Brinker said that probe was a factor in the decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.

“Regrettably this strategic shift will affect any number of long-standing partners, but we have always done what is right for our organization,” she said, adding “the scurrilous accusations being hurled at this organization are profoundly hurtful to so many of us.”

Thousands of messages have swamped Komen’s Facebook page — the vast majority of them being negative.  The Executive Director of Komen in Los Angeles has also resigned her post as a result of the decision.

“People all across the country have stepped forward in the last 48 hours to offer help and support, and the mayor’s donation will help ensure that no woman is denied breast cancer services because of right-wing political pressure campaigns,” Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a written statement.

The mayor sent out a Twitter message Thursday afternoon urging other donors to come forward.

“Join me in standing with Planned Parenthood to protect and promote women’s health,” he tweeted.

What do you think about the entire situation?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below…

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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  • annec

    I’m sick of the PP argument that the money is used to provide breast screening. If it weren’t for these funds, PP would have to use their own funds to pay for screenings. That would leave less for abortion funding. That is why I consider any donation that is given to PP a donation that makes abortions possible.

    Taxpayer-funded grants to the health clinic side of PP, allow them to use other funds for abortions.

  • MarkJ

    The Nazis’ most evil ploy during the Holocaust was forcing Jews to help finance and participate in their own annihilation.

    It’s pretty clear Mayor Bloomberg hasn’t read much about the Holocaust, huh?

  • Dano

    I still can’t believe people in New York voted for this d-bag.

  • rc0213

    Bloomberg claims to be independent, but his actions make him extreme left. Just another reason to not like him.

  • John Tokalenko

    1942: Hitler tries to kill Jews like Bloomberg.

    2012: Bloomberg wants to kill babies.

    Ironic.

  • djw663

    Bloomberg, a Democrat turned Republican turned independent, said politics “have no place” in health care.

    One- Bloomberg is far from an independent.
    Two- Healthcare is one of the top three political issues
    three- for a Billionare $250,000.00 is nothing and he won’t necessarily give them that money he will match donations up to that amount. A local family to me is matching funds up to $1 million dollars to donate to a local school for the kids to get a new swimming pool and they have nothing compared to Bloomberg.
    four- Again private donations fund a government program. The better off people are the more they are willing to donate with taxes, energy and food prices so high we do not have the money to donate like that of a few years ago.

  • djw663

    What I want to know is whether he is pledging the money from his own account or the tax payers?

  • spock

    How come when something does not go a Socialist way they call it politics?? Secondly is not the main purpose of the foundation to find a cure, what has Planned Parenthood done topwards that.
    Secondly notice how all these Libs/Socialists want to fund Destroy Parenthood with other peoples money, oh just like Obama, use other peoples money. If you want to support so called Planned Parenthood, donate your own money, stop funding with tax dollars and other foundations!!

  • RandyC0609

    The term is called “pinkwashing”. People do what feels go without engaging any critical reasoning. The Susan G Komen foundation has downplayed the dangers of bisphenol A (an estrogen mimicker and known hyper breast cancer agent) for years due to conflicts with corporate sponsorships that include Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M, Georgia Pacific and many others. The dangers of BPA are coming to light a group like Susan G Komen which is the focal point of breast cancer awareness need to face up to its appalling track record of denial and cover up.

    • mk

      This is great. The American way. I can now donate my money to breast cancer research and Bloomberg can donate his money to abortion. The way it is suppose to be. All private money.

      • agreewithstevens

        EXACTLY. Planned Parenthood should get NO public monies, and if Komen is getting any money that is controversial…(I just don’t know anybody or any group against curing cancer) then they shouldn’t either.

  • al

    I guess we now know who likes to fund killing unborn babies

    • rebecca

      Or low price or no price breast cancer screenings.

      • km

        Planned Parenthood provides very few screenings. They mostly provide referrals. Wouldn’t be a better use of money to just cut out the middleman in all of this and have them go directly to the agencies that actually provide the mammograms.

        • Obed

          Good solution, too bad the evil business prospect of killing an innocent child in the womb far outweighs logic with these pagans.

      • Ronnie

        Planned Parenthood causes the breast cancer through abortion that Komen is trying to eliminate…Does this make sense?

  • Gordon Preston Brown

    Josef Stalin and Chairman Mao would be proud of Mayor Bloomberg if they were alive today. He is a communist, pure and simple.

    • Gil

      don’t forget, those guys were also Socialists, Marxists, and both were related to Saul Alinsky. LOL

    • jack g

      Riiight, socialist.A self made multi- billionaire socialist.I wish I were as simple as you, it would be a pleasure not to think on a daily basis.

    • Obed

      Mao zedong 20 million deaths, planned parenthood 53 million & still we call it legal abortion instead of infanticide.

  • Anthony

    Bloomberg is without a doubt the most pathetic Mayor in NYC history. After spending over 100 million to win reelection, he runs the City like his personal business. He is too busy supporting abortionist instead of having a parade for our returning Iraq Soldiers.

    • RandyC0609

      WOW! Good point. His priorities are out of wack.

    • B.F.

      Don’t you mean to re-buy the election? Bloomberg has scored some points with Satan for this ploy. Way to go Michael! (Please note my tone of sarcasm.)

  • Sara

    Gotta keep those Abortion mills up and running at full strength, we dont need any more blacks or hispanics in this country. Make sure you vote Democrat in 2012.

  • CenterOfTheRoadIndependent

    what’s funny is the the Planned Parenthood quote, “The Mayor is stepping up and giving this gift is saying ‘do not politicize this issue.’ Women’s health just matters too much,” President and CEO of Planned Parenthood NYC, Joan Malin. Then one of her subordinates comments, “People all across the country have stepped forward in the last 48 hours to offer help and support, and the mayor’s donation will help ensure that no woman is denied breast cancer services because of right-wing political pressure campaigns,” Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

    I wonder who is “politicizing” the issue?

    • TeaRunner

      CBS and PP are politicizing it of course. Easier to do business when you have no standards to maintain.

    • bj

      who can guarantee that any funds will go fo breast screening instead of abortions

  • John Q.

    Planned Parenthood never did breast exams/mammograms etc. anyway, they just referred women to other sources for that. They were just using the money people donated to Komen, that then went to PP, for other things including abortions. A waste if truly fighting breast cancer as is their goal, not to mention donors that thought their money was going for that as well, so I don’t blame them at all for stopping support. There are better places to put that breast cancer money is the bottom line, and frankly I applaud them for it.

  • Joel

    What a lefty crappy reporter!!!! Failed to state that Komen’s donations have gone up 100% since they ended their partnership with Baby Killer Inc. Seems like donors aren;t that upset. What a sham, this reporter should be fired, except for the fact the news director is a big lefty too, and was editing this story and said go find people who are outraged, outrage is what we need here, that’s the story!!!!

  • ThunderclapNewman

    Kelly. Don’t even bother with Omar. Most of them don’t even know what “faux” means anyway. If you watch that prison channel, MSNBC, you rely on being spoon-fed.

  • TeaRunner

    Isn’t this guy supposedly a Catholic?

    I guess Dems think they have to institute some kind of population control on their plantation.

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