Vital Signs: Planned Parenthood controversy eats into Komen's coffers

Donation drop. Breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure saw a 22 percent drop in contributions in 2012, the year following the controversy over its decision to stop giving grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings. It reversed its decision after pro-abortion groups complained.

Citing audited financial statements posted on its website this week, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based charity said contributions dropped from about $164 million from the fiscal year ending in March 2012 to $128 million in the year ending March 2013.

Spokeswoman Andrea Rader attributed the drops to the Planned Parenthood controversy, in addition to economic uncertainty and other events vying for charity dollars. But she also said the organization now is seeing its numbers stabilize.

Medically necessary? Starting Feb. 2, abortion providers in Alaska will need to describe why a woman’s abortion is “medically necessary” before receiving Medicaid funding.

The state’s original regulation only required that an abortionist claim an abortion was medically necessary in order to receive Medicaid funding, Life Newsreported. Health commissioner Bill Streur proposed the stricter regulations to reduce requests for state funds.

The new certificate to request Medicaid funds features two requirements. First, an abortion provider must certify the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or the abortion was performed to save the woman’s life. Second, a provider would have to indicate an abortion was medically necessary from a list of 23 impairments which includes eclampsia, congestive heart failure, and comas.

Democrats like Alaska House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, have criticized the regulation as an invasion of privacy. But Streur said it’s needed to ensure the law isn’t being abused. “It doesn’t differ much from how we were doing it before, it just asks for more detail,” Streur told Alaskan newspaper Peninsula Clarion. “We wanted to get details for why these [abortions] were federally necessary.”

Federal funding ban. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., held a hearing Jan. 9 on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.

The bill, introduced in May, aims to end federal funding for abortions except in cases that threaten the health of the mother or involve rape or incest.

The bill also includes the District of Columbia under the term “federal government,” sparking controversy over the federal government’s role in governing the district. Washington’s non-voting congressional member Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton told The Washington Times, “It snatches power—local power, local authority—from the District of Columbia and its people.”

However, Franks told The Washington Times,“The District of Columbia is the seat of this government, according to the Constitution, and not a state. And consequently, we will proceed.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.