The Komen-Planned parenthood controversy: bringing the politics of breast cancer advocacy to the forefront.

In the midst of the many political attacks against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights over the past year (Guttmacher Institute, 2012b), the news that Komen for the Cure was halting future funding to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening and breast health education still managed to create shock waves among women’s health advocates and the general public. Within hours of the news breaking, social media sites erupted with the sounds of outrage and significant pressure was placed on Komen to reverse its decision (Gates, 2012; Lynch, 2012b; Preston & Harris, 2012). As the national interest in the controversy grew, news outlets began to focus on the socially conservative employee within Komen who was seen as engineering a new policy to provide cover for the defunding of Planned Parenthood (Lynch, 2012a). Unable to withstand the pressure or fearful of growing public backlash, Komen reversed its decisions and amended its policy to allow Planned Parenthood to continue to be eligible for new awards (Belluck, Preston, & Harris, 2012). Soon the media coverage declined and the world of online pundits turned to trying to assess the damage done to the Komen brand and the implications of the debate for Washington politics (Cohen, 2012; Sauer, 2012; Sutton, 2012). What remained unaddressed in the media frenzy surrounding the Komen–Planned Parenthood faceoff was the reality that breast cancer, and Komen’s approach to breast cancer advocacy, have a history of politicization (King, 2006;