MANHATTAN — The Susan G. Komen for a Cure foundation backpedaled Friday, announcing it will no longer cut funding for Planned Parenthood.
The reversal came after controversy erupted over the Komen foundation’s decision to pull $700,000 worth of grants to the nonprofit health care provider, with many blaming the famed breast cancer organization for caving to political pressure over abortion.
But Komen apologized on Friday for “recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” according to a statement the organization released from founder and CEO Nancy Brinker and Komen’s Board.
“The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen,” the statement said. “We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.”
The foundation said it had yanked it grants for Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screening program because of new rules preventing donations to groups under investigation by U.S. authorities.
"We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political," the statement from Komen said. "That is what is right and fair."
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards praised Komen's decision.
"We are enormously grateful that the Komen Foundation has clarified its grantmaking criteria," she said in a statement. "What these past few days have demonstrated is the deep resolve all Americans share in the fight against cancer, and we honor those who are at the helm of this battle."
Over the past five years, Komen grants have helped the organization provide nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and more than 6,400 mammogram referrals for low-income women, especially in rural and underserved communities, Planned Parenthood said.
Many New York elected officials were pleased with the news and took to Twitter, where much of the debate raged the past few days.
"Glad to see @KomenForTheCure has apologized and will restore funding of @PPAct!,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted. "Saving women's lives must be our priority, not politics."
"I’m thrilled that the leadership of #Komen has reconsidered their ill-conceived decision to cut off funding to #PlannedParenthood," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn tweeted.
Bloomberg's matching donation offer still stood, the mayor said.
"Nobody's going to ask for their money back," Bloomberg said. "I've always thought that the Susan Komen Foundation does great research, and we've got to continue that. Planned Parenthood really is an important organization trying to keep unplanned pregnancies from happening and helping people when they get pregnant."
He said he will continue to support both organizations.
''I think [Komen] did the right thing by restoring the funding, and in the end, that's what really matters," he added.
Despite Komen's reversal, many are continuing to give big donations to Planned Parenthood, including the city's teacher union, which announced Friday a $125,000 grant.
"As a union with a large female membership, we know the importance of the kind of health care that Planned Parenthood provides," United Federation Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement.
"Our donation on behalf of our members is a statement that despite present and future threats to Planned Parenthood," he said, "we support it and the services it makes available to women across the country."
