Boston Globe:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced today that it’s cutting off grants to Planned Parenthood affliates across the country to provide breast cancer screenings, including breast exams and mammogram referrals.

Yes, Planned Parenthood provides cancer screenings and general gynecologic care, not just family planning services such as contraception and abortions.

Komen — which sponsors walks and races to raise money for breast cancer research — said it halted the grants because of a controversial investigation of Planned Parenthood by a Republican congressman, who claims the organization is using government funds for abortions, according to the Associated Press. Komen gave about $680,000 in funds to Planned Parenthood affiliates last year, but the seven Massachusetts centers didn’t receive any funding and won’t be directly affected.

The Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts expressed “deep disappointment” and blamed it on “anti-women’s health groups” that have launched boycotts of the well-known breast cancer charity for partnering with Planned Parenthood on cancer screenings.

Over the past five years, those Planned Parenthood health centers that received Komen program funding provided nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams out of the more than 4 million clinical breast exams performed nationwide at Planned Parenthood health centers; clinicians under the grants wrote more than 6,400 mammogram referrals out of 70,000 mammogram referrals issued from Planned Parenthood clinics.

“At a time when women’s health has been under attack, it’s a sad commentary that our two organizations won’t be working together since we both have similar missions,” Dianne Luby, president of the Massachusetts Planned Parenthood said in an interview. “Komen has appeared to succumbed to political pressure from a vocal minority and it leaves women in the lurch. We hope they’ll reconsider.”

motherjones:

A Florida voter defends his candidate, Mitt Romney, to Slate’s Dave Weigel.

We give up.

Today, it’s the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies” of 1967, commonly known as the Outer Space Treaty.

This treaty has been signed and ratified by 100 nations, including the United States, Canada, Russia, China, India, Brazil, all EU states, Australia and New Zealand, as well as having 27 signatories that have not yet ratified it.

Here are some sections I’d like to point out.

Article II:

Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.

Article VI:

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty.  The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty. When activities are carried on in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, by an international organization, responsibility for compliance with this Treaty shall be borne both by the international organization and by the States Parties to the Treaty participating in such organization.

Article XI:

In order to promote international cooperation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, States Parties to the Treaty conducting activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, agree to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public and the international scientific community, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable, of the nature, conduct, locations and results of such activities. On receiving the said information, the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations should be prepared to disseminate it immediately and effectively.

Article XII:

All stations, installations, equipment and space vehicles on the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be open to representatives of other States Parties to the Treaty on a basis of reciprocity. Such representatives shall give reasonable advance notice of a projected visit, in order that appropriate consultations may be held and that maximum precautions may be taken to assure safety and to avoid interference with normal operations in the facility to be visited.

In very simple terms, this means that any stations, installations or settlements on any celestial body or artificial satellite, including the moon, cannot be claimed as territory by any signatory state and must be made accessible to every other signatory state. Also, cooperating states are responsible for the actions of non-governmental entities operating space and must ensure that these entities follow the guidelines of the treaty.