Withdrawing from the World
The pro-life boycott of the Susan G. Komen Foundation is growing. There are now about a dozen (of 195) Roman Catholic Dioceses in the US that have notified Catholic organizations within their jurisdictions they should not support the Race for the Cure. As far as I can tell none of them ban individual Catholics from participation. That is left to personal conscience. Most dioceses take no official position.
The objecting bishops differ with Komen over what they consider serious moral issues, essentially maintaining that support for Komen can amount to cooperating with evil. I would counter that the boycott itself works to deprive the world of an unequivocal good (fighting cancer) to no discernable benefit.
The issues mostly have to do with Komen’s financial support for breast cancer screening and educational services provided at Planned Parenthood facilities, denial of any proven link between induced abortion and increased risk of breast cancer, and refusal to rule out stem cell research involving destruction of human embryos.
Komen responds that they have controls in place to ensure all funds go to breast cancer related purposes specified in grants. There is no evidence any of their money has gone toward morally objectionable uses. They do not warn women of abortion related cancer risk because neither the American Cancer Society nor the National Institute of Health, nor any other major health organization acknowledges such a link. And so far they have not funded any embryonic stem cell research, though some of their research is done at institutions where other projects do involve embryos.
The boycott is a mistake. It makes the pro-life community, and by extension Catholics in general, appear narrow minded and dogmatic. Some of what I see on the internet is more than just narrow minded. Much of it is not true. Some of it is slander. In singling out Komen the boycott pits us against an almost universally respected institution and one of the most widely supported charities in the country, one against whom most reasonable people would reject charges of ties to abortion. Komen is about breast cancer, not abortion. To equate the foundation with evil is over the top. Shrill voices don’t win a lot of friends.
After all, the State of Texas funds breast and cervical cancer services for eligible women through private clinics in every county. In Collin County there are three, all of them Planned Parenthood. Do I stop paying my taxes? No but I can and have lobbied elected officials to find other providers. Abortion is far more prevalent in China than here. Even forced abortion is common. Every time I turn on the lights I use electricity produced in part from wind turbines made in China. Do I sit in the dark? No but I do advocate using trade ties to pressure the Chinese to improve human rights practices.
The number of dioceses participating in the boycott remains small, but the trend is worrisome. Some dioceses haven even stopped supporting Catholic Campaign for Human Development on grounds they work with groups they don’t approve of. That’s a mistake too. The anti-poverty CCHD does a lot of good work and, like Komen, is very careful to see to it their money goes where it is intended.
The church is a powerful voice on all sorts of important social issues, including right to life, poverty, immigration reform, school choice, the family, and a host of others. To be effective we have to work in this world with people we sometimes disagree with on serious matters. Otherwise we will never accomplish much that’s worthwhile.
The objecting bishops differ with Komen over what they consider serious moral issues, essentially maintaining that support for Komen can amount to cooperating with evil. I would counter that the boycott itself works to deprive the world of an unequivocal good (fighting cancer) to no discernable benefit.
The issues mostly have to do with Komen’s financial support for breast cancer screening and educational services provided at Planned Parenthood facilities, denial of any proven link between induced abortion and increased risk of breast cancer, and refusal to rule out stem cell research involving destruction of human embryos.
Komen responds that they have controls in place to ensure all funds go to breast cancer related purposes specified in grants. There is no evidence any of their money has gone toward morally objectionable uses. They do not warn women of abortion related cancer risk because neither the American Cancer Society nor the National Institute of Health, nor any other major health organization acknowledges such a link. And so far they have not funded any embryonic stem cell research, though some of their research is done at institutions where other projects do involve embryos.
The boycott is a mistake. It makes the pro-life community, and by extension Catholics in general, appear narrow minded and dogmatic. Some of what I see on the internet is more than just narrow minded. Much of it is not true. Some of it is slander. In singling out Komen the boycott pits us against an almost universally respected institution and one of the most widely supported charities in the country, one against whom most reasonable people would reject charges of ties to abortion. Komen is about breast cancer, not abortion. To equate the foundation with evil is over the top. Shrill voices don’t win a lot of friends.
After all, the State of Texas funds breast and cervical cancer services for eligible women through private clinics in every county. In Collin County there are three, all of them Planned Parenthood. Do I stop paying my taxes? No but I can and have lobbied elected officials to find other providers. Abortion is far more prevalent in China than here. Even forced abortion is common. Every time I turn on the lights I use electricity produced in part from wind turbines made in China. Do I sit in the dark? No but I do advocate using trade ties to pressure the Chinese to improve human rights practices.
The number of dioceses participating in the boycott remains small, but the trend is worrisome. Some dioceses haven even stopped supporting Catholic Campaign for Human Development on grounds they work with groups they don’t approve of. That’s a mistake too. The anti-poverty CCHD does a lot of good work and, like Komen, is very careful to see to it their money goes where it is intended.
The church is a powerful voice on all sorts of important social issues, including right to life, poverty, immigration reform, school choice, the family, and a host of others. To be effective we have to work in this world with people we sometimes disagree with on serious matters. Otherwise we will never accomplish much that’s worthwhile.
posted by Onfoot at 1:28 PM
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