When the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation cut funding to Planned Parenthood, they weren't at all prepared for the backlash. Some outlets have reported that the initial decision was essentially the result of pressure from right wing conservative organizations, though the foundation itself says otherwise. In any case, the Komen foundation made the mistake of underestimating the size and strength of the majority in the United States who generally remain silent on the issues of birth control and abortion so long as their rights are not threatened.

There is a very vocal "Right to Life" crowd and a very vocal "Pro Choice" crowd (their own terms). They do whatever they can to make the news and to influence people and organizations to move their way. The majority of people, however, are not activists in either group. Most of the people you meet on a daily basis try to ignore the constant screaming on both sides. It is that majority, however, that those who seek to deny women the right to both birth control and abortion seem to underestimate. We see the results from time to time as a law gets passed or a funding cut happens and all of a sudden a massive ground swell erupts that demands in no uncertain terms that limitations on these rights absolutely will not stand. The ability to control when, how often, and under what circumstances a woman gives birth may be the single most important factor in women's rights. It grants women the freedom to compete effectively in education and in the workforce and to hold an equal role in society with men. When something does come along that poses a serious jeopardy to these rights, the response from the normally quiet part of the voting public is overwhelming and clear.

This is by far not the first time the conservative right has been overridden with a response like this. In 1990, the Idaho legislature passed the nation's most restrictive abortion law. Almost overnight, a nation wide cry of outrage and threat to boycott Idaho's huge potato industry caused Governor Cecil Andrus to veto the bill despite having had a long history of supporting similar legislation. (see http://bit.ly/Aj8VEf ) The general population of the United States simply will not stand for this kind of an abridgement of women's rights.

Conservatives take note: Anything which appears to threaten these services and their availability to women in the United States will meet with a similar result every single time.

For more information on the recent mistake by the Komen foundation, see http://n.pr/AC4nb6