Update: Handel resigns Komen position following Planned Parenthood controversy

UPDATE: Tuesday Feb. 7, 2012

Karen Handel, former Georgia Secretary of State, has stepped down as vice president for public policy for the Susan G. Komen for Cure breast-cancer charity today.

In her resignation letter, Handel explained that she had supported discontinuing funding for Planned Parenthood. Handel's resignation letter was posted online Tuesday morning:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has been the recognized leader for more 30 years in the fight against breast cancer here in the US - and increasingly around the world.

As you know, I have always kept Komen's mission and the women we serve as my highest priority - as they have been for the entire organization, the Komen Affiliates, our many supporters and donors, and the entire community of breast cancer survivors. I have carried out my responsibilities faithfully and in line with the Board's objectives and the direction provided by you and Liz.

We can all agree that this is a challenging and deeply unsettling situation for all involved in the fight against breast cancer. However, Komen's decision to change its granting strategy and exit the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and its grants was fully vetted by every appropriate level within the organization. At the November Board meeting, the Board received a detailed review of the new model and related criteria. As you will recall, the Board specifically discussed various issues, including the need to protect our mission by ensuring we were not distracted or negatively affected by any other organization's real or perceived challenges. No objections were made to moving forward.

I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen's future and the women we serve. However, the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen, and the controversy related to Planned Parenthood has long been a concern to the organization. Neither the decision nor the changes themselves were based on anyone's political beliefs or ideology. Rather, both were based on Komen's mission and how to better serve women, as well as a realization of the need to distance Komen from controversy. I believe that Komen, like any other nonprofit organization, has the right and the responsibility to set criteria and highest standards for how and to whom it grants.

What was a thoughtful and thoroughly reviewed decision - one that would have indeed enabled Komen to deliver even greater community impact - has unfortunately been turned into something about politics. This is entirely untrue. This development should sadden us all greatly.

Just as Komen's best interests and the fight against breast cancer have always been foremost in every aspect of my work, so too are these my priorities in coming to the decision to resign effective immediately. While I appreciate your raising a possible severance package, I respectfully decline. It is my most sincere hope that Komen is allowed to now refocus its attention and energies on its mission.

ORIGINAL STORY: Saturday, Feb. 4

After three days of uproar from women around the country, outrage magnified across social media outlets, the rift between Komen and Planned Parenthood has subsided somewhat.

Planned Parenthood has a location at 75 Piedmont Avenue. Last fall's Susan G. Komen 3-Day - a three-day, 60-mile walk that "is simply the boldest thing you can do in the fight to end breast cancer," according to www.the3day.org, passed through Midtown.

Friday, Komen CEO Nancy G. Brinker issued a reversal and an apology, after word it was pulling its financial support from Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings created intense backlash.

"We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives," wrote Nancy G. Brinker, Komen founder and CEO.

"The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not," wrote Brinker, in the statement released to the public and posted on the charity's website.

A swift counter-response was issued by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.

“In recent weeks, the treasured relationship between the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood has been challenged, and we are now heartened that we can continue to work in partnership toward our shared commitment to breast health for the most underserved women,” Richards said in a prepared statement. “We are enormously grateful that the Komen Foundation has clarified its grantmaking criteria, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Komen partners, leaders and volunteers."

In light of this past week's events, will you continue to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation if you have done so in the past?

Shortly after the news broke on Tuesday of the split between the two women's health organizations, public outcry across social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, largely sided with Planned Parenthood, and took Komen to task for what many viewed as bowing to political pressure over abortion funding.

Funding practices of Planned Parenthood, a provider of abortion, are being scrutinized after a Republican congressman questioned whether such services were paid for with public money.

Komen made the decision in December to discontinue funding Planned Parenthood in light of the investigation, a decision that became public knowledge earlier this week and launched a firestorm of protest directed mainly at Komen.

Although Komen maintained initially that funding any organization under investigation was a violation of Komen's corporate policies, a Feb. 2 story released by Mother Jones magazine pointed to $7.5 million in research funding Komen authorized for the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, which is affiliated with Penn State University. That institution is currently embroiled in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

Friday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, released a statement following Komen's announcement of its reversal on funding Planned Parenthood breast cancer screenings. 

“This is a major win for the thousands of women nationwide who rely on Planned Parenthood for critical breast cancer screenings and a tribute to all who raised their voices in reaction to Komen’s initial decision. By reversing its decision, the organization showed clearly that it has women’s best interests at heart and I applaud it for doing so," wrote Shaheen.

“In this situation, popular dissent trumped partisan politics, but we must remain vigilant in our efforts to protect women’s health care from extremist attacks.   We must make clear that women’s health care is too important to be politicized.”

In closing, Brinker's statement called for women to regroup and refocus on women's health issues.

"It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue.  We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics," Brinker wrote.

- Hunt Archbold contributed to this story