Breaking: Komen VP Karen Handel resigns over Planned Parenthood debacle

From the AP:

An executive with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity has resigned after a dispute over funding for Planned Parenthood. The resignation came in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Karen Handel (HAN’-duhl) announced her resignation as vice president for public policy in a letter to Komen officials Tuesday.

Handel said in her letter that she had supported cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood.

This is major news, and a definite victory for the reproductive rights and justice community. As the VP of Public Policy, Handel had the ability to negatively impact women’s health in so many other ways with her anti-choice ideology.

It’s clear that Komen realizes the severity of what they’ve done, and that the response was likely way more severe than they ever imagined. Way to stick it to them folks.

What I’ve liked about this particularly example of activism is that it is predicated on the fact that abortion can’t be isolated from the whole slate of women’s health services–breast cancer screening included.

Update: You can read Handel’s resignation letter here.