The 12th annual Central Texas Komen Race for the Cure is history.
In a surprising twist for the September 29 race, the Komen affiliate in Waco doubled down on its Planned Parenthood alliance with a newspaper ad just prior to the race.
Central Texas Komen has made pass-through mammography grants to Planned Parenthood for at least seven years. Of course, Planned Parenthood does not perform mammographies and simply acts as a money handler.
In the recently-published book, Planned Bullyhood, Karen Handel recounts the deceptive and abusive attacks that Planned Parenthood used to strong-arm national Komen to reverse a new policy that would have ended grants to Planned Parenthood.
Ms. Handel, Komen’s senior vice president for public policy, was thrown under the bus when Komen was not able to take the heat generated by Planned Parenthood. Handel reveals that one reason for Komen’s spinal weakness was that some local leaders had at least as much allegiance for the unfettered sex agenda of Planned Parenthood as for the breast cancer mission of Komen. When the national Komen decision to separate from Planned Parenthood was communicated to affiliates, “some objected vehemently in what seemed like an overly emotional response—more in support of Planned Parenthood than Komen.” [p. 129]
This conflict of loyalties appears to be at work within Central Texas Komen. Just two days before the Race for the Cure in Waco, a four-page promotional supplement was distributed in the Waco Tribune-Herald. Much of the supplement included articles about the race and about breast cancer survivors. The supplement also contained six large ads from sponsors and collaborators. One might have thought that Central Texas Komen would refrain from “scratching the scab” of the Komen/Planned Parenthood entanglement. Not so. Waco Planned Parenthood had a quarter-page ad touting its non-abortion services provided under the same roof and by the same staff as its abortions.
The ad clearly shows Planned Parenthood is using and abusing Komen in the attempt to shine its tarnished image. Komen leaders in Waco apparently do not mind sacrificing Komen’s interests and good name.
The Central Texas Komen Race for the Cure is anything but a rising star. The Waco Tribune-Herald supplement recalled that the first race in 2001 had 4,253 registered runners and walkers. The article further stated that Komen expected “approximately 5,000 registered participants for this year’s race.” A Waco Tribune-Herald article in 2010 stated the race “typically draws more than 7,000 participants.” An online source pegs 2005 race participants at 9,000.
Pro-Life Waco continues to challenge Central Texas Komen annual grants to the nation’s leading abortion provider. Since only 17 percent of Komen affiliates make grants to Planned Parenthood, Pro-Life Waco seeks to bring Central Texas Komen in line with the vast majority of affiliates.
Pro-Life Waco’s campaign in 2012 has included a billboard, a half-page newspaper ad, plus e-mail, fax, and snail mail communications to Central Texas Komen and its sponsors. If anyone would like to support this effort to achieve a Komen/Planned Parenthood divorce, the e-mail address is
John Pisciotta is the director of Pro-Life Waco, an American Life League Associate group, and recently retired from his position as professor of economics at Baylor University.