Susan G. Komen For The Cure
In April 2011, Handel was appointed senior vice president of public policy at breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure ("Komen"). In this position she was responsible for leading the organization’s federal and state advocacy efforts, including management of Advocacy Alliance.
At the end of January 2012, Komen stated it would cut ties with the women's health organization Planned Parenthood. The organization attributed the decision to a newly adopted policy not to fund organizations under investigation by a government agency. The House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in September 2011 initiated an investigation into Planned Parenthood’s usage of federal funds which are precluded (by the Hyde Amendment) from financing the organization's abortion services.
Media reports postulated that Handel—who had advocated defunding Planned Parenthood in her gubernatorial campaign—and pressure from anti-abortion groups played major roles in this move. On February 2, 2012, Jeffrey Goldberg reported in The Atlantic that "three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood." Goldberg further reports that his sources indicated "the decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization's new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is 'pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood'". On February 5, 2012 The Huffington Post reported that "emails between Komen leadership... confirm Handel's sole 'authority' in crafting and implementing the Planned Parenthood policy... Handel submitted the new grant criteria to Komen leadership in November and the board approved it in December, at which point Komen's top public health official resigned "on the spot." The firestorm which developed when the news broke out led to a reversal of Komen's decision.
On February 7, 2012, Handel resigned from Komen.
Read more about this topic: Karen Handel
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