Komen official quits, defends fund cut

ATLANTA - A vice president at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure resigned Tuesday, saying the breast cancer charity should have stood by its politically explosive decision to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

Karen Handel, a Republican who opposed abortion as a candidate for Georgia governor, said she was actively engaged in efforts to cut off the grants and said the charity's reversal hurt its core mission.

"I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it," Handel 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."

The grants, totaling $680,000 last year, went to breast-screening services offered by Planned Parenthood, which provides a range of women's health-care services including abortions. Under criteria developed by Komen during Handel's tenure, Planned Parenthood would have been disqualified from future grants because it was under a congressional investigation launched at the urging of antiabortion activists.

Komen, the nation's largest breast-cancer charity, reversed course after its decision ignited a three-day firestorm of criticism. Members of Congress and Komen affiliates accused the group's national leadership of bending to pressure from antiabortion activists.