Komen big quits

ATLANTA — A high-ranking official from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity resigned yesterday — the latest fallout from the group’s decision to cut, then restore, funding to Planned Parenthood.

Karen Handel, the charity’s VP for public policy, said she supported the cutoff of funds to Planned Parenthood, which provides many health-care services, including abortions, in a letter to Komen obtained by The Associated Press.

But Handel said discussion of the issue started before she arrived at Komen and was approved at the highest levels of the charity.

“I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it,” Handel, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Georgia governor in 2010, said in her letter.

“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.”

Handel had supported a decision that Komen announced last week to exclude Planned Parenthood from future grants for breast-cancer screenings because it was under government investigation. The charity cited a probe launched by a Florida congressman at the urging of anti-abortion groups.

Komen restored Planned Parenthood funding after the cutoff created a three-day firestorm of criticism. Members of Congress and Komen affiliates accused the group’s national leadership of bending to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Komen’s founder and CEO, Nancy Brinker, denied the decision was driven by pressure from anti-abortion groups.

A source with direct knowledge of decision-making at Komen’s headquarters in Dallas said the grant-making criteria were adopted with the deliberate intention of targeting Planned Parenthood.