Local Planned Parenthood Staff and Patients React With Dismay to Komen Foundation Decision

Foundation Decision will not directly impact local service

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood President/CEO Patricia McGeown today expressed her agency's alarm and disappointment in response to the national announcement that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation will stop funding breast cancer prevention, screenings, and education at Planned Parenthood health centers.

"Although we are not directly affected by the Komen Foundation's decision making, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood is deeply concerned about the troubling precedent of putting politics before women's health," said McGeown.

Anti-women's health groups have repeatedly targeted and boycotted the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation for partnering with Planned Parenthood to provide these lifesaving cancer screenings and news articles suggest that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation ultimately succumbed to these pressures.

In 2011, according to UHPP Vice President for Patient Services Christine Pluviose, Upper Hudson performed 1,245 clinical breast exams and identified six cases of masses in women's breasts. In a recent series of interviews with UHPP patients, local breast cancer survivor, Colleen Luther, recounts how she came to a Planned Parenthood in Denver with initial concerns about a breast lump, after being turned away by other providers because of her insurance status. She credits Planned Parenthood for saving her life.

"I'm so sad," reacted Luther to today's announcement by the Komen Foundation. "I am really in shock."

Nationally, Planned Parenthood's quality, accessibility and affordability make it a leader in identifying breast cancer early when there is the best chance of successful treatment. Nationwide, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses provide nearly 750,000 breast cancer screenings annually, offering risk assessment, breast exams, breast health information and education, and diagnostic and surgical referrals.

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Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP) is a community-based non-profit organization working to promote healthy sexuality and reproductive choice through exceptional services, honest education and fearless advocacy since 1934. In 2011, over 10,000 patients made 22,382 visits to UHPP health centers located in Albany, Hudson and Troy. UHPP health educators present over 400 education programs reaching 5,632 youth and young adults. UHPP services are delivered with special concern for the underserved.