Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen

Planned Parenthood is an organization that, through donations, provides breast exams and mammograms to low-income women who would otherwise be unable to take any steps towards breast cancer prevention. The Susan G. Komen Foundation is one notable donator; its annual $680,000 donation given to Planned Parenthood allows for the exams of nearly 200,000 women. Yet, in February of 2012, the Komen Foundation announced that it would no longer give the annual $680,000 that it had usually donated; this decision created a sudden and effective online outlash from both worried women and their supporters. The move may have been politically motivated as the Planned Parenthood organization identifies with a pro-choice stance on abortion. However, just three days after announcing that controversial choice, The Susan G. Komen Foundation reversed their decision. Economist David Rothschild has stated that “there is little doubt that social and media pressure forced Komen to reverse its plan.” Twitter, Facebook, and many blogs erupted with posts supporting the Komen Foundation’s initial choice with hashtags like #prolifevictory, but social media featured even more posts that held the opposite views with hashtags such as #shameonkomen and #standwithPP trending throughout the internet. Social media allows people to voice their thoughts and views, thereby acting in a situation that they would otherwise be unable to affect; in this case giving thousands of women the breast cancer prevention they need.

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