I challenge you . . . to a duel!: Flip-flopping doesn’t help

The Susan G. Komen Foundation's reversal to cut funding to Planned Parenthood is just a tiny part of the story for a massive struggle in America. While our media and politicians have you distracted about reproduction rights, there are much deeper cultural and institutional problems buried by the abortion debate.

A couple of weeks ago, Karen Handel, the former vice president of public relations for Komen, initially announced that Komen would not lend Planned Parenthood its annual $700,000 grant. The reason: Planned Parenthood was being audited, and a new rule (drafted by Handel herself) prevents Komen from giving donations to any organization under federal investigation.

Now, the audit for Planned Parenthood is a yearly occurrence; it's nothing new or scandalous, despite what Cliff Stearns (R-Florida) claims. Stearns, who vowed to cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood, has spent much of his political career restricting Americans' access to health care services, all the while claiming he is fighting against Planned Parenthood to save lives.

Stearns voted for bills that added new and unnecessary requirements for older citizens to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. He approved other bills that increased prices for prescriptions that are already over-priced.

On top of this, Stearns also voted against the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which would require tobacco companies to disclose complete information regarding the harmful chemicals in their tobacco products.

He also voted against the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act, which increased safety standards for our nation's food production. For Stearns, life apparently needs less federal protection after a person is born.

Although Stearns gets a large amount of his campaign funding from pharmaceutical lobbies, his major financiers are TV and telecommunications companies - which makes me wonder if his political posturing against Planned Parenthood is more about increasing news ratings and less about preserving life.

The strange double-standards continue with Stearns' partner in crime. While Handel was busy enforcing her "no funds if you're being investigated rule" on Planned Parenthood, she had no problem giving $7.5 million to Penn State.

Penn State is still under investigation for the Sandusky scandal. For those of you who were living under a rock, the heads of Penn State's football team were using the university to pimp out underage boys - apparently that's not an investigation worthy of Handel's attention.

Handel resigned from Komen because her moves were purely political. She lost the 2010 gubernatorial race in Georgia because, as part of an Atlanta committee, she approved a bill that gave $400,000 to Planned Parenthood back in 2005. Her opponent, Nathan Deal (R-Georgia), smeared her for being "soft" on abortion. I know, the irony is painful. My guess is that Handel felt she had some making-up to do.

In reality, Planned Parenthood provides a number of health services to women, and most of these aren't abortions. Actually, abortions account for only 3 percent of their services.

Studies show that when Planned Parenthood has funds to offer more contraception (and not just to women, as they give out condoms to men), the number of abortions go down.

That's right. If you want Planned Parenthood to perform fewer abortions, give them more money, not less.

But really, this isn't an attack on all women, per se. The bulk of Planned Parenthood's patients aren't just any woman: they're poor women, and many are ethnic minorities.

Seeing the connection? This onslaught against Planned Parenthood isn't about reproductive rights or saving babies. It's about restricting low-income females' access to affordable health services - like STD testing and family planning counseling.

Handel and Stearns' scheme is just a single skirmish in a much larger battle to restrict all poor Americans' rights to health care. The poor will remain impoverished if they can never be healthy.