I never thought I would have to defend a woman’s right to cancer screening. For all of the mean-spirited rhetoric in the public square, I could not imagine having to fight that battle. But, the next chapter in the assault on women’s rights and women’s lives has begun.

The Planned Parenthood luncheon yesterday was an upbeat event, despite the reality that a major foundation contributor, Komen for the Cure, has ended their longstanding support for the breast cancer screenings offered by Planned Parenthood that have saved so many lives. Komen’s decision eliminates funding for 170,000 cancer screenings a year, primarily for low income women without other access to this critical medical care.

Komen, over the years, has been a major supporter in the work to address breast cancer. They have raised a great deal of money and done great work.

Why this current change? Why would a foundation committed to women’s health eliminate funding for one of the most effective deliverers of those services?

“Komen says this isn’t about choice, but it recently changed its funding guidelines to exclude any organization under investigation by Congress, knowing that a baseless investigation into Planned Parenthood had been opened by Republican Representative Cliff Stearns at the request of anti-choice groups.

And Komen has strong links to the anti-choice movement. Its new vice president of public policy, Karen Handel, ran for governor of Georgia in 2010 on an aggressively anti-choice platform, part of which was a pledge to defund Planned Parenthood.” 

It would be easy to hear this news as just the latest attempt to roll back the progress of the last half century. Easy to understand it at the political level and … move on. But real lives are at stake. That is my frustration with so much of the political discourse and cultural commentary we are hearing in this election season. It misses the reality that we are talking about real human beings, in this case women, who  would be punished because of an attachment to an abstract principle.

There is no commitment more fundamental among Unitarian Universalists than that of women’s empowerment and the right of a woman to control and care for her body. But we know that many, based on their religious principles, do not share our point of view. Those folks are, I believe, deeply misguided, but I know that they feel just as strongly that we are.

We need, however, to talk about the reality of life and act based on its real challenges. The social safety net in this country is fragile and continues under attack, on many fronts.

 Those among us with the means have access to cancer screenings. But we know that the least affluent are at a far higher risk for later detection and treatment for cancer, diabetes and even high blood pressure. Forty-eight percent of Planned Parenthood clients are Medicaid recipients. The playing field is far from level.

Political debate is appropriate, but it needs to be grounded in reality, not abstraction. If your principles result in harm and your principles require you to be heartless about that, it is time to inspect your principles.

Here are links to both Planned Parenthood, for updates on their response, and MoveOn, for opportunities for advocacy.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

http://pol.moveon.org/komen/?rc=homepage.sidebar

Blessings,

Bill