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After seven years of partnering for free breast examinations, mammograms, and ultrasounds for women in need, the nation’s leading breast cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is ceasing to finance these procedures and educational programs run by Planned Parenthood. The decision will stop financing 19 of 83 Planned Parenthood affiliates who received approximately $700,000 in grants last year. Komen for the Cure has been under pressure from anti-abortion groups to sever ties with Planned Parenthood because certain clinics offer the procedure. In September 2011, Florida Representative Cliff Stearns set in motion an investigation of Planned Parenthood federal money spending. Although Planned Parenthood receives federal grants, that money is not used for abortions, and the Komen Foundation may have yielded to demands from anti-abortion groups to sever its ties to Planned Parenthood. [LA]

Read more, and see Facebook users reactions to this act, after the jump.

Leslie Aun, Komen for the Cure spokesperson, told the Associated Press that the termination of funding was based on a new rule adopted by Komen which prohibits grants to organizations being investigated by local, state or federal authorities.

President of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, speculates the current events and investigations were a way for Komen to address the political pressure they have been under.

Until really recently, the Komen foundation had been praising our breast health programs as essential, Richards said. This really abrupt about-face was very surprising. I think that the Komen foundation has been bullied by right-wing groups.

Leslie Durgin is the senior vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood’s Rocky Mountain affiliate, one of the affiliates that will no longer receive funding from Komen. Durgin told the New York Times that the Komen decision would cost three of the organization’s health centers in Denver and one in Glenwood Springs about $165,000. Halting of funds to the Planned Parenthood affiliates will deter women’s primary health care needs, breast cancer education, and screenings.

Any kind of impediment for women, including a referral to go someplace else, will mean that women delay getting further screenings and women who may have cancer will discover it later than they might otherwise, Ms. Durgin said. A lot of our clients are just one hassle away from not getting services at all. [NYT]

After receiving reactions by the thousands on their Facebook, Susan G. Komen for the Cure released a statement on their wall saying that they are currently “working directly with Komen Affiliates to ensure there is no interruption or gaps in services” for the women in need.

Komen for the Cure also stated that “grant making decisions are not about politics–our priority is and always will be the women we serve. Making this issue political or leveraging it for fundraising purposes would be a disservice to women.”

Here are some of the reactions left by Facebook users to the change:

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Tell Susan G. Komen for the Cure, “Don’t bow to anti-choice pressure. Reestablish breast health funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates.”