On Mother’s Day, May 14, 2006, Milwaukee Brewer Bill Hall stood at home plate in the bottom of the 10th inning with the score tied. With one strategic swing of the pink bat Hall was holding, he launched himself into the record books. Hall hit a game-winning walk-off home run, and the value of his pink bat skyrocketed. In fact, a month later, the Brewers’ owner, Mark Attanasio, paid over $25,000 for the pink bat in a Major League Baseball auction.

In 2006, Bill Hall was looking for a charity to support. He chose the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer group, but not because anyone in his family had been a victim of breast cancer. He just appreciated their work. He appreciated their work enough to sport the pink wristbands and to use a pink bat, when not very many players around the leagues were doing so. He also appreciated their work enough to make a $25,000 donation to the organization prior to the game. You might say he gave $50,000 in 2 months, because the $25,000 that Mr. Attanasio paid for the bat was also donated to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Now, fast forward to this past Sunday’s Mother’s Day game at Miller Park, where the Brewers hosted the St. Louis Cardinals. Behind home plate was a giant-sized familiar pink Susan G. Komen “cure” ribbon. Many of the players from both teams were wearing the trademark pink wristbands and necklaces as well as using pink bats. In fact, Brewer Ryan Braun used a pink bat to hit two homers in Sunday’s Brewers’ victory.

I remember thinking in 2006 as I watched Hall hit that legendary home run and go and present the bat to his mother who was in the stands that day, “Wow. Isn’t it nice to see the Brewers get behind something that helps so many women?” This past Sunday, I had a completely different reaction. I was more than a little perturbed that the Brewers were sanctioning this “men in pink” day. So what made the difference between 2006 and 2008?

The difference is that in those two years, I’ve learned that the Susan G Komen Foundation financially supports none other than Planned Parenthood Federation, including, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

The most heinous of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s slate of atrocities is the babies it kills through abortion. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is the state’s largest abortion provider, with 3 abortion facilities. Just knowing this about Planned Parenthood would make me reconsider any warm feeling I might have toward the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Why would I want to see any money going to a group that will turn around and give it to Planned Parenthood?

But what really caused me to blanch and almost recoil at the sight of the pink during Sunday’s game was knowing that solid research has shown that having an abortion significantly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer. In fact, since 1957, over 70 scientific studies have been conducted on the abortion and breast cancer link, commonly referred to as the ABC Link.

Of those studies, 80% found that just having an abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. Recently, The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons published a study showing that abortion is the “. . . best predictor of breast cancer.” The most carcinogenic abortions are the ones performed before the birth of a first child, and girls who have an abortion before they are 18, almost double their risk for cancer.

Yes, there are people who question the science. Two of the loudest nay-sayers are Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Not really a surprise, especially with the founder of Komen sitting on the board of Planned Parenthood Federation. Nevertheless, we, and many others, believe the research supporting the abortion/breast cancer link is scientifically credible.

So here we have the Brewers and many other well-intentioned groups standing ready to help in a significant way an organization they believe is doing great things for people. The truth is they are supporting an organization that is ostensibly working to prevent and cure breast cancer, while that same organization is financially supporting a group that is, through its abortions, actually upping the likelihood that women will have breast cancer. It makes no sense at all.

I’m not taking the Brewers to task. The players were good sports and were doing what they thought a good thing on Mother’s Day. The Brewers organization was likely totally unaware of the entire abortion/breast cancer link issue, especially since the media does its best to keep it quiet. But it is time that you and I quit quietly sitting by while the world becomes awash in pink Komen ribbons, wristbands and bats.

This is Julaine Appling with Wisconsin Family Council, reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”