After the raging battle between Susan G. Komen For the Cure and Planned Parenthood last month, a top official from Komen has resigned. The breast cancer charity organization revoked funding to Planned Parenthood because they are under investigation for using federal funding to pay for abortions. It is against the law to do that, but Planned Parenthood has always asserted that they do not nor have they ever used federal funding in such a way. Sadly, this political debate really affected women who use Planned Parenthood for an array of health care services.
The decision by Komen was reversed after a few days and heavy backlash across the country. Komen’s Vice President for public policy, Karen Handel, resigned today because of this ordeal. According to Ray Henry’s Associated Press article, “Komen exec quits after funding flap,” Handel fully supported the decision to cut funding and is displeased that Komen reversed their decision. Handel believes the funding cut was in the best interest of both Komen and the women they help.
Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of Komen, says that the company has made mistakes in the past few weeks and is planning to learn from them and strive for better in the future. Brinker denies the criticism that Komen gave in to anti-abortion groups and pressure from Republicans. After a failed run for Governor in Georgia last year, Handel was brought on as Vice President at Komen. She has never denied her anti-abortion stance and source at Komen says Handel was the driving force in this funding cut decision. Regardless of whose decision it was, the reversal not only helps millions of women with little to no health insurance get breast cancer screenings, it also brought in sizable charity donations for both organizations over the past few weeks.
Tags: Health Insurance
