Female Fights: #3 Planned Parenthood

Vera H-C Chan
·Senior Editor, Special Projects
Planned Parenthood found itself under investigation for using federal funds to subsidize abortion services. The nonprofit saw a surge in donations after another nonprofit, Susan G. Komen, pulled funding. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

In 2012, women put up a good fight to defend their interests, even as others fought for their favor. Here are the year's top female fights, as measured by search volume and percentage spikes compared with 2011 on Yahoo!.

The wrangling over reproductive rights emerged early: Planned Parenthood, already under federal investigation by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., found itself dealing with funding issues state by state and disputing claims that the nonprofit health group used federal dollars to fund abortion services. However, an unexpected tussle with another nonprofit (see Female Fights #6, Susan G. Komen) resulted in a surge of donations to the health care service. It also saw success on another front: The Sunlight Foundation found that the organization's political action fund had a 98 percent return on its investments.