Komen Official At Center Of Planned Parenthood Controversy Resigns

The Susan G. Komen Foundation just confirmed to NPR.org's Scott Hensley that Karen Handel has resigned from her post as the organization's senior vice president of public policy.

Scott will be posting about the news over at Shots.

In case you're not up to speed on the controversy involving the breast cancer charity, last week it announced that it would withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood breast screening programs — and then reversed that decision three days later after critics said it was caving to political pressure.

The always politically touchy subject of abortion was at the center of the controversy. The Komen Foundation had been coming under some criticism in recent years for its relationship with Planned Parenthood — which some conservatives suspect of using public money to support abortion services (a charge Planned Parenthood says is false).

Handel was Vice President Quayle's deputy chief of staff and in the years since had been involved in conservative politics.

Her resignation letter is here, at the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Political Insider blog. In it, she says politics played no role in Komen's initial decision about funding Planned Parenthood screening programs.

Update at 11:30 a.m. ET: Scott's post is now here.