Today, finally, after much pressure, Karen Handel, Sr. Vice President of Public Policy for the Susan G. Komen Foundation resigned. In a letter to the CEO, Handel details how she is in fact not the reason that the Susan G. Komen Foundation decided to pull its funding from Planned Parenthood.
She whines about being a scapegoat for the organization that decided last year to keep Komen out of controversial issues, and that Planned Parenthood had been deemed one of those due to the alleged investigations about their use of taxpayer money. She talks about how she continues to agree with that decision and that defunded Planned Parenthood was appropriate and stops just short of saying she is quitting because they changed their minds. What most really believe is that Komen finally gave in to the pro-lifers threatening the organization and its donors for supporting Planned Parenthood which offers abortions.
Well, I say good riddance to bad rubbish. I live in Georgia. And Georgians have been getting screwed by Karen Handel for years. In 2006, she was elected Secretary of State of Georgia and in one of her most egregious actions in that position, implemented and vehemently defended the Voter ID law. This law made it a requirement to show (one of a limited number of) state-issued photo identification before voting. Although on its face you may think that was a good idea. Well think again. If you didn’t follow it then, the main reason this law was wrong is that it is another Republican method of voter suppresion. Will it help with voter fraud, yes maybe, but at what cost? The larger issue is that at least 10% of elibible voters don’t have nor will they obtain the documents/ID on the “approved” list and the impact is even greater on people that have traditionally faced barriers to voting including the elderly, students, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and people of color. The Democratic Party of Georgia sued the Governor, alleging that the law was unconstitutional but eventually the law was upheld by the court.
So this isn’t the first time that Karen Handel has been behind the wheel of a policy that would inhibit the lives of many. When she was endorsed by Sarah Palin in her 2010 run for the Georgia Governor’s office, we should’ve known she was destined for madness.
And now she wants to claim that she is a scapegoat. Well, so be it. OJ got off scott free the first time too. But alas, karma is a bitch.
So now that the funding has been restored, I have this question. Why is a company whose focus is solely preventing breast cancer giving money to another organization that has only one breast cancer service which is referring people to other organizations that have breast cancer services?
Because that’s how it works. Their foundation allows others to apply for grants to help support breast cancer and women’s health issues.