Karen Handel Resigns From Komen, Mitt Romney Attacks Planned Parenthood

Romney panders to the far right while Handel admits targeting Planned Parenthood
Politics • Views: 27,923

Republican anti-choice activist Karen Handel is resigning from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, with an angry statement defending her work against Planned Parenthood: Karen Handel Resigns From Komen for the Cure.

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.

Please note that in her statement, Handel is openly admitting that Planned Parenthood was deliberately targeted. This comes after many days of Komen Foundation officials denying that there was any specific intent to defund Planned Parenthood. The truth will eventually out.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney obviously understands which side his bread is buttered on: the religious right side.

When Minnesota radio host Scott Hennen asked Romney whether Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the leading U.S. anti-breast cancer charity, should continue to give Planned Parenthood grants for cancer screenings and mammogram referrals, Romney said, “I don’t think so.”

“I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood,” the former Massachusetts governor added. “Look, the idea that we’re subsidizing an institution which is providing abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood ought to stand on their own feet, and should not get government subsidy.”

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36 comments
1 Sionainn  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:52:29am

You'd think the RWNJs would start getting a clue that attacking Planned Parenthood is bad news after the groundswell of support that PP received in the past week. They just never learn.

2 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:52:57am

That is because these people are not just opposed to Planned Parenthood (with a capital "P") as an organization, they are opposed to the very concept of planned parenthood (with a small "p").

3 jaunte  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:53:30am
"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."

How blind do you have to be to the meaning of words to write those two sentences one after the other?

4 Kragar  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:54:34am

Screw you Mitt.

5 iossarian  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:55:17am

re: #4 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

Screw you Mitt.

Don't worry, I think we're going to find that Mitt Romney is quite capable of screwing himself.

6 Petero1818  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:55:51am

Me thinks Mitt has found his VP///

7 Olsonist  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:57:40am

And Prop 8 went down.

8 ProBosniaLiberal  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:58:08am
SovernNation Doug Sovern
Breaking: federal appeals court rules #Prop8 unconstitutional, CA cannot ban same sex marriage. 2-1, Judge Smith dissents
9 Gus  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:58:35am

re: #7 Olsonist

And Prop 8 went down.

Woohoo!

@peoplefor PFAW
Victory for marriage equality! 9th Circuit rules Prop 8 unconstitutional, affirms lower court ruling

10 Kragar  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:59:37am

re: #7 Olsonist

And Prop 8 went down.

11 ProBosniaLiberal  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 9:59:51am

re: #9 Gus 802

re: #7 Olsonist

Who is Judge Smith?

12 dragonfire1981  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:01:16am

You know what's really funny? I'm just a regular guy and way back around the time of 2010 midterms (and even before), it was BLATANTLY obvious to me that whoever was going to win the GOP nom for 2012 would have to shift far to the right to secure the Tea Party/Wingnut vote.

It was also blatantly clear to me that in doing so, said candidate would effectively alienate a good chunk of centrist and independent voters they would NEED to win the White House. I think it's pretty clear that any candidate needs independent voters to win, especially given more Americans than ever identify as such.

Knowing this back then, the GOP could have and SHOULD have come up with some kind of strategy to deal with this issue, but they didn't. Instead Romney is going full bore on the far right stuff, throwing most of his previous positions under the boss and looking like a moron in the process. It might be enough to get him the GOP nom but he'll be toast in the general.

Maybe it's for the best, maybe the GOP needs a good thrashing to come to their senses and change direction a little.

13 Varek Raith  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:01:27am
14 Gus  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:01:30am
15 dragonfire1981  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:02:17am

Also, is it funny/sad to anyone else that the candidate in the upcoming election that's taking the most flack from Christian voters is a professed Christian who's only been married to one woman his entire life and seems to be a very stable family man?

16 Varek Raith  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:02:19am

I sense a great many heads exploding....

17 Gus  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:03:00am

re: #16 Varek Raith

I sense a great many heads exploding...

Handel resigns and Prop. 8 goes down in flames. All on the same day. Nice.

18 wrenchwench  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:03:43am

re: #3 jaunte

"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."

How blind do you have to be to the meaning of words to write those two sentences one after the other?

And the next ones.

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.

The desire to avoid controversy made it political.

19 Kragar  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:04:02am

re: #15 dragonfire1981

Also, is it funny/sad to anyone else that the candidate in the upcoming election that's taking the most flack from Christian voters is a professed Christian who's only been married to one woman his entire life and seems to be a very stable family man?

The problem is that the people who think you need to be a devout Christian to hold office don't consider his brand of religion Christian.

20 Kragar  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:04:42am

re: #17 Gus 802

Handel resigns and Prop. 8 goes down in flames. All on the same day. Nice.

Next up, Fischer found with a Rent Boy...

21 lawhawk  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:04:58am

re: #12 dragonfire1981

Except that the lesson learned will be that they need someone even more right wing to win in the general election, not that they have to find a moderate who can pull votes from the center.

Right now, the GOP is moving far to the right of any prior campaign season in recent history, and the shift is ripe for flip-flopping on key issues come the general election when Romney has to try and find a way to say what he was saying in the primaries doesn't count, all while winking and nodding to the right wingers whose hate of Obama may be matched by the antipathy towards Romney.

22 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:06:13am

re: #7 Olsonist

And Prop 8 went down.

It didn't, since it's not over until the SCOTUS rules.

23 Gus  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:07:01am

re: #22 Sergey Romanov

It didn't, since it's not over until the SCOTUS rules.

Let's not get picky. ;)

24 dragonfire1981  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:07:14am

re: #19 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

The problem is that the people who think you need to be a devout Christian to hold office don't consider his brand of religion Christian.

Show me some evidence that Obama is not devout. A LOT of the wingnuts claim he is not (not that I am calling you a wingnut), but I have yet to see any proof.

25 Gus  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:07:42am

Never cease to take the opportunity to rub a political or judicial victory in your opponents face. ;)

26 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:10:53am

re: #23 Gus 802

Let's not get picky. ;)

Nah. Let's!

/

I'm glad, of course, but it's just not correct. Either it went down in Aug. 2010, and has already been down for all this time, so we can't say it got killed today; or, if we agree that it's not over until the appeals are exhausted, it's still not down. This decision is still the middle link.

27 Ming  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:16:52am

I wonder why anyone would want to donate money to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

If you want to donate money for women's health, e.g. breast cancer research, tests, and treatment, there are many fine organizations who could use the money. Including, of course, Planned Parenthood.

If you want to donate money to convert America's Constitutional system into a big-government theocracy, it should be easy to find an organization that will happily take your money, and work towards that goal.

So where does this leave Komen? Is their market now limited to people who like those little pink thingies?

28 Kragar  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:17:39am

re: #24 dragonfire1981

Show me some evidence that Obama is not devout. A LOT of the wingnuts claim he is not (not that I am calling you a wingnut), but I have yet to see any proof.

Their definition of devout means parroting their line completely.

29 Ming  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:23:39am

re: #27 Ming

I've got it! They can switch their focus from breast cancer to those pink bibles.

30 Olsonist  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:23:51am

re: #22 Sergey Romanov

It didn't, since it's not over until the SCOTUS rules.

It did, and it's not over even if the SCOTUS rules. There's always a Constitutional amendment. Heck, Texas can even secede. It's never over even if the SCOTUS rules.

But Prop 8 just went down.

31 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:26:12am

re: #30 Olsonist

It did, and it's not over even if the SCOTUS rules. There's always a Constitutional amendment. Heck, Texas can even secede. It's never over even if the SCOTUS rules.

But Prop 8 just went down.

Nope. If it went down, it was with J. Walker's decision in Aug. 2010, not today. And if it didn't go down then, then by the same standard it didn't go down today.

32 allegro  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 10:27:19am
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.

Yes, it surely does. So does the public that has spoken so loudly in the past week that has said that their individual donations will be going elsewhere based upon their own high standards.

33 cat-tikvah  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 11:10:31am

Okay, Mitt, fair's fair then -- how soon will you be advocating cutting off all federal money for those Catholic institutions that don't want to provide insurance coverage for contraception? Of all organizations, shouldn't they be relying on God's providence and the support of the faithful?

34 William of Orange  Tue, Feb 7, 2012 11:32:20am

I just read that there were even physical threats against Komen before Handel resigned. If this is true:

THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!

35 Bulworth  Wed, Feb 8, 2012 6:58:05am
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.

Oh "cry me a river", Karen. Buh-bye. Enjoy your next career as wingnut radio host and Faux news carnival barker.

36 Pacific moderate  Wed, Feb 8, 2012 10:11:03am

Guess the theory on the right is that women are fungible, and so if Planned Parenthood's early screening service saves a woman from dying of cancer, she might live on to have an abortion one day.


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