After politicizing women’s health by tying their so-called charity to Republican misogyny, the Susan G. Komen continues to struggle to regain standing without coming clean about what they did and why they did it. The Republican ideologue who spearheaded Komen’s war on women’s rights stepped down today.
Karen Handel, a Republican who once ran for governor of Georgia on a platform calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, stepped down from her role as the charity’s senior vice president for public policy and chief lobbyist, the organization said on Tuesday.
"I have known Karen for many years and we both share a common commitment to our organization’s lifelong mission, which must always remain our sole focus," Komen founder Nancy Brinker said in a statement. "I wish her the best in future endeavors."
Planned Parenthood, a leading provider of birth control, abortion and other women’s health services, had no comment.
Komen’s move last week caused an uproar among supporters who also back Planned Parenthood. Komen reversed the decision on Friday.
Many had accused Komen of initially bowing to political pressure from anti-abortion groups who want to cut off all funds to Planned Parenthood. The charity says it had been guided by a new policy to avoid funding organizations under investigation by authorities.
In a Fox News interview, Handel charged Planned Parenthood with using "vicious attacks" and "coercion" to prevent Komen from setting its own standards. "It’s outrageous," said Handel, whose appointment to Komen’s leadership last April raised the hackles of pro-abortion activists… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Reuters>
Planned Parenthood did nothing of the kind. The outcry against Komen was grass roots up, not Planned Parenthood down.
Keith Olbermann covered this story with Becky Bond.
He continued with a Special Comment.
Keith expressed my position exactly. Until Komen comes clean about their intentions and cleans up their act completely, donating a nickel to them is five cents too much.
10 Responses to “Handel Steps Down; Komen Unchanged”
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I still won’t click to donate to them on care2 or give a single penny to them ever again.
I would, but only if they thoroughly demonstrated that they have mended their ways.
I noticed that too, Nameless. I think she intends to campaign for some office as a victim of Planned Parenthood.
I have been suspicious of the Komen organization for quite some time , it has seemed to be politically driven- many things have pointed to that- In my opinion there is a lot that has not yet come to light—Handel moved to fast and went to far—It stands to reason her background and intent was clear when she was hired—I doubt if any thing was hidden.
To me it seemed that they were corporately driven.
From the article — “Many had accused Komen of initially bowing to political pressure from anti-abortion groups who want to cut off all funds to Planned Parenthood. The charity says it had been guided by a new policy to avoid funding organizations under investigation by authorities.”
Two points here —
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Was Stearn approached to put an investigation in place so that Komen could fall back on its new policy of not funding organisations under investigation? Or did Stearn already have the investigation in play which allowed Komen to defund Planned Parenthood because it was under investigation? The result is the same but the motives are different , albeit somewhat the same.
The second point is whether or not Komen bowed to political pressure from anti-abortion groups. Well I suppose in the broadest sense, Komen bowed to political pressure from anti-abortion groups, namely the Republican/Teabaggers. I read in the past week that Nancy Brinker, her husband and the Komen Foundation donated almost $500,000 to the RNC and Republican/Teabagger candidates. Given that the party is taking a very strong pro-life stance (listen to Sanctimonious Santorum as he spouts no abortions, life begins at conception, and no contraception), there is little to doubt that this whole affair is politically motivated. I would really love to see the IRS do a complete audit of SGK. I think that rats would scurry out from under the paperwork, just like the rats are abandonning Scott Walker’s ship in Wisconsin.
From the article — “Karen Handel, a Republican who once ran for governor of Georgia on a platform calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, stepped down from her role as the charity’s senior vice president for public policy and chief lobbyist, the organization said on Tuesday.”
With bringing Handel on board, Komen should have known what was likely to happen. Without evidence that I can lay my hands on, common sense tells me that Komen knew exactly where they were going with the defunding of Planned Parenthood. It was a direct assault on healthcare for women who can not otherwise afford proper healthcare. How Republican of them!
From the article — “In a Fox News interview, Handel charged Planned Parenthood with using “vicious attacks” and “coercion” to prevent Komen from setting its own standards. “It’s outrageous,” said Handel, whose appointment to Komen’s leadership last April raised the hackles of pro-abortion activists…”
And the reaction from the community is definitely a grassroots response despite what Handel says in her Faux Noise interview. What is “setting its own standards”? When an organisation has a non-profit status, I would think that the ability to discriminate would be a big no no! Women, indeed people around the country have made their displeasure known and Handel, the spoiled Republican/Teabagger never to be governor of anything now, is being called into question.
Republican/Teabagger politics run deep all the way through this. The president of NOW was on the ED Show within the past 3 days and predicted that SGK will not survive 5 years in its current form. Too bad that what once appeared to be a testament to the loss of a sister from breast cancer, has turned into a nightmare that dishonours the memory of that sister.
Like a lot of people, when I do ‘click to donate’ on Care2, I waltz right by the Komen click. Not because I don’t want to support women with breast cancer (I lost a single mother family member to breast cancer at thee age of 41), but because I will not support the duplicity of SGK and the RNC’s anti-women stance.
Wish I could have seen the videos but they say they were pulled for copyright. I will try to find them on YouTube.
Lynn, I don’t think that Komen drove Stearn’s investigation. That was a publicity stunt. I do think, however, that Komen has been looking for an excuse to defund PP. I think Komen brought Handel on board, because they agree with her views.
On the videos, Current changed their policy about allowing their clips to be posted on You Tube. From now on, we can only get Olbermann from current, and they seldom put up his best ones.
Bummer! I liked Keith!
Me too. There is Buzz that he and current aren’t getting along well.