Sense of Entitlement

The protests about the decision of the Susan G. Komen forthe Cure Foundation to stop providing funds to Planned Parenthood is more evidence that many people in our society are plagued with a sense of entitlement.  The foundation is a private organization, and should be able to allocate their dollars as they see fit.  It is not the business of United States Senators to urge a private foundation how to spend their money.  It strikes me as particularly odd for a politician, namely New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, to say that “Politics have no place in health care.”

Mayor Bloomberg was probably referring to the politics of abortion, since the original reason that the Komen Foundation gave for stopping funding to Planned Parenthood was that Planned Parenthood is under investigation.  They are investigation because of allegations that they used federal funds for abortions.  The reason that I say that the protests over this decision point to a sense of entitlement is that if the Komen Foundation does not wish to fund an organization that provides abortions, that is their decision.  It is a private organization, answerable to its donors. 

It makes sense for the Komen Foundation to provide funds to an organization such as Planned Parenthood if Planned Parenthood provides screenings and information in such a way that it furthers the mission of the Komen Foundation.  At some point, though, the directors of the Komen Foundation must make a calculation.  If they receive feedback from donors that they do not want their dollars being used to help an organization that provides abortions, they must calculate whether they will lose donations if they continue to support Planned Parenthood.  Just because the Komen Foundation has provided funds to Planned Parenthood in the past does not mean that they are obligated to continue doing so.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a woman has a right to an abortion, but that does not mean that anyone is obligated to finance that abortion.  I have a right under the First Amendment to self- expression.  That does not mean that the Columbus Dispatch is obligated to publish my letter to the editor.  I may have a right to become a Rastafarian, but that does not mean that the government or anyone else is obligated to purchase ganja for me to practice that religion.  My son has the right to own a firearm under the Second Amendment, but that does not mean that I deny him that right if I decide not to give him a rifle on his eighteenth birthday.

How the Komen Foundation distributes funds is not public business.  Therefore, members of the United States Senate have no business writing letters to a private foundation about that foundation’s decisions on how to allocate funds.  Our senators need to pay attention to the nation’s business.