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Do you agree with The Decemberists' decision to pull Komen support?
PORTLAND -- The Decemberists, a well-known band that lives in Portland, have withdrawn their fundraising support for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation after the organization's decision to stop providing funding for Planned Parenthood.
As first reported inRolling Stone Magazine, The Decemberists pulled their support for Komen and realigned themselves with Planned Parenthood's Breast Health Emergency Fund.
The issue is close to home for the band, as last year, the band's keyboard player Jenny Conlee began undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation's leading breast-cancer charity, recently announced it was halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates. This created a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women.
Komen claimed that a change in their grants policy prevented them from contributing to Planned Parenthood any further, though Planned Parenthood insisted that the foundation had bowed to pressure from anti-abortion groups, according to theRolling Stone report.
The Decemberists' website promotes the sale of a T-shirt for breast cancer research and a statement was posted that said: "The Decemberists are deeply troubled by Komen for the Cure's recent decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a vital resource in the battle against breast cancer. Providing cancer screenings to low income women is integral to the prevention and defeat of breast cancer and it is unconscionable that Komen should politicize this very important issue by bowing to the fear campaign being waged against PP by the right. We've decided to redirect the proceeds of the Team Jenny t-shirts and buttons away from Komen for the Cure. 100% of the net profits of these items will be instead donated to Planned Parenthood's Breast Health Emergency Fund."
