In the last 24 hours, thousands of women turned to Twitter and Facebook to express their anger over the decision by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, to halt financial support for cancer screening and education services at Planned Parenthood affiliates.
Planned Parenthood, as my colleague Pam Belluck reported, accused Komen of bowing to pressure from anti-abortion rights activists, prompting a passionate online discussion from both sides of the abortion debate, as well as thousands of online messages lamenting the role of politics in women’s health care.
Beyond politicians and advocates, some authors, including Judy Blume and celebrities, including actress Dana Delaney jumped into the conversation on Twitter.
Extremely disappointing.I support @PPact thkpr.gs/zG6Wer
— Dana Delany (@DanaDelany) February 1, 2012
On Wednesday, Susan G. Komen was a top Google search term, falling just below Don Cornelius, the creator of “Soul Train,” after news of his death was announced. It was also a top trending topic in the U.S. on Twitter. And more than 5,000 people left comments on a post that Komen made on its Facebook page defending its decision, which the foundation said was not made in response to pressure from opponents of abortion rights.
On the Red State blog, Erik Erikson applauded Komen’s decision and urged people to send a thank you note and a donation to the organization.
Groups, including Americans United for Life, also urged people to show their support for the Komen Foundation on Facebook.
While there were comments on Facebook, Twitter and online message boards praising Komen, an analysis by Polipulse, a social media analytics tool for a Washington-based public relations firm showed that 75 percent of the people posting on social media channels about the decision were sharing negative comments about Komen’s decison while 25 percent supported it. According to the analysis, more than 20 percent said that they would not give money to Komen because of the move.
Some people called on their Facebook friends and Twitter followers to turn in their pink ribbons and offer financial support to Planned Parenthood instead of Susan G. Komen. An online letter was shared by more than 19,000 people. By Wednesday afternoon, Planned Parenthood was advertising on Twitter using promoted tweets to help raise money.
Please RT: Help us make sure that women continue to get the care they need. Donate to Planned Parenthood today: bit.ly/AAlipY #komen
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) February 1, 2012
Raising money online, alone, generated $400,000 by Wednesday evening, in addition to a $250,000 donation from a Dallas-based organization.
In an article by Gardiner Harris and Pam Belluck about the Komen foundation, a board member said that Planned Parenthood exploiting the news as a fund-raising opportunity.
Some of the online discussion centered on Karen Handel, the Komen foundation’s senior vice president for public policy since April 2011, who ran on an anti-abortion rights platform during an unsuccessful bid for governor of Georgia in 2010. The blog, Jezebel, found a post on Ms. Handel’s campaign blog stating that she did not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.
And both organizations used social media throughout the day to communicate their position, including a Komen organization in Connecticut that announced on its Facebook page its frustration with the decision to cut funds for Planned Parenthood.
