(Newser)
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As the backlash against it continues to grow, the Susan G. Komen Foundation has changed its explanation for dropping its Planned Parenthood funding. Initially, the group said it had decided not to fund any organization currently under federal investigation. Now, leaders say the cuts have nothing to do a congressional inquiry into whether Planned Parenthood spent public money on abortions; instead, Komen is looking to back groups that offer direct breast health services, like mammograms. Planned Parenthood only gives mammogram referrals, Komen founder Nancy Brinker told reporters. "The essence of our organization’s position has been lost," Brinker said, according to the Washington Post.
But Barbara Boxer, one of the now 26 senators who signed a letter urging Komen to change its mind, called the new explanation "revisionist history." "This new reason is so obviously fake that you’d have to be born today to believe it," she noted. The group, she said, is "hurting" after "aligning themselves with the most right-wing forces. So now they are changing their tune." Komen says its donations have jumped "100%" since the decision, but didn't give details. Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reports that a member of Komen's medical advisory board will resign if the decision is not reversed. The group's top public health official as well as the executive director of the LA County chapter have already resigned in protest.
