The founder of the Susan G. Komen foundation apologized after the news broke that it would be pulling funds from Planned Parenthood's initiatives to provide breast health checks for women in low-income areas.
CEO Nancy G. Brinker said in a joint statement with the Komen foundation's board of directors, that the events of the week "have been deeply unsettling" because of "the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not."
Brinker also committed to restoring funding back to Planned Parenthood, which raised $3 million for its emergency breast health fund, created in the wake of Komen's announcement earlier this week.
Brinker said the board members were trying to abide by their new rule, which cut off funding for organizations that were under investigation.
Republican members of Congress, led by Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns, have launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood, which has long been the target of conservatives because of its availability to perform abortions and provide birth control. That probe caused the revocation of funds, a spokeswoman for Komen told the AP. Leaders at Komen recently instituted a new policy barring their organization from awarding grants to groups that are under investigation by government authorities.
Read Komen's statement here.
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