The Chris Moeller Archives

Now, here's six things I didn't know until today, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation reversed its decision to stop funding the organization in the face of a powerful public backlash:

1. The treasurer of PP's first fundraising drive was Prescott Bush, father of George H. W. Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush.

2. Federal funding for PP began with legislation signed into law in 1970 by Richard Nixon.

3. Barry Goldwater's wife, Betty, was a founding member of Arizona PP.

4. Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, donated $150 to PP in 1994.

5. When a Romney family member died from a botched, then-illegal abortion in 1963, the family asked that memorial donations go to PP.

6. That there is still a powerful political and social movement in this country to protect women's health and reproductive freedoms. Many supporters have just been in hiding. A relentless hammering away at such freedoms has gone too often unchallenged in the legal arena because of fears of what the current court would do to Roe v. Wade if given the opportunity. It's vital that pro-choice supporters fight back, however, to win what has been a losing public relations battle over the issue of abortion during the past two decades.