Karen Handel resigned as the Susan G. Komen Foundation's vice president for public policy on Tuesday in the wake of the charity's disastrous defunding of Planned Parenthood and since she isn't taking a severance package, she's free to talk to the media. Today, she told the Daily Beast, "The idea that anyone would suggest Komen had a political agenda is absurd." more ›

Now that Karen Handel has stepped down from the Susan G. Komen Foundation, it seems that she can get back into Georgia Republican politics with her head held up high. One Georgia-based GOP strategist tells the AP, "It's kind of hard to criticize her now. She comes out of this with some really strong bona fides with pro-life voters across the state." Right, the pro-lifers who made an issue of her... being "barren," "infertile" and "desperate." more ›

The Susan G. Komen Foundation executive who was behind the breast cancer charity's decision to defund Planned Parenthood's breast cancer-prevention programs has stepped down today. Karen Handel, Komen's VP for public policy, wrote in her resignation letter, "I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. 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." more ›

In an article that confirms all of the suspicions about why the Susan G. Komen Foundation decided to defund breast cancer prevention programs at Planned Parenthood, the Huffington Post reports that a Komen source says vice president for public policy Karen Handel was the "main force behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood and the attempt to make that decision look nonpolitical." The source said, "Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria. She said, 'If we just say it's about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.'" more ›

Mayor Bloomberg may tell you to "deal with it" when it comes to blizzards, paying for the FDNY to respond to your crash, smoking, cutting the number of teachers, brazen corruption, and police raiding your stupid protest, but let's face it: When he announced he'd donate up to $250,000 to Planned Parenthood, you liked him for at least five minutes. more ›

In the wake of the Susan G. Komen Foundation's change-of-heart regarding funding Planned Parenthood's breast cancer-prevention measures, the Komen foundation finds itself reeling from a public relations disaster that may have left it irrevocably harmed. A Komen affiliate in Colorado told the Washington Post, "I felt like we were eaten alive. We had no advance warning.. . . We were sent into battle without armor." more ›

In an about-face no doubt fueled by the massive public relations mess, leading breast cancer charity The Susan G. Komen Foundation announced it would continue to funding programs at Planned Parenthood. In a statement today, founder Nancy Brinker said, "We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities." more ›

While the Susan G. Komen Foundation remains on the defensive about defunding breast cancer prevention-related grants to Planned Parenthood, its marketing juggernaut remains unabated. For instance, what says ending breast cancer forever like a .22-caliber pink handgun? more ›

After the Susan G. Komen Foundation pulled its breast cancer prevention-related funding from Planned Parenthood, numerous people have been stepping up to donate to Planned Parenthood. And Mayor Bloomberg wants to donate $250,000—and have others donate another $250,000. more ›

After news that leading breast cancer charity, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, was stopping its funding to Planned Parenthood's breast screening and health initiatives, Planned Parenthood supporters donated over $400,000 in 24 hours. And a grant from a Texas couple will raise the total to $650,000. UPDATE: Now, according to NYTMetro, Mayor Bloomberg says he'll donate up to $250,000 to Planned Parenthood, which would raise the total to $900,000. more ›

After yesterday's AP report on how leading breast cancer charity, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, was stopping its grants to Planned Parenthood—grants that go towards breast exams and information—Planned Parenthood asked its supporters to donate. And they have: The Washington Post reports that $400,000 has been donated to the organization in the past 24 hours. more ›

The top breast cancer charity has pulled its funding from Planned Parenthood, which provided nearly 170,000 breast exams during the five years of Komen's support. more ›

Ever since the city decided to make sex ed for public school students mandatory, conservatives have been freaking out about the end of innocence, etc. But a new study released by the International Planned Parenthood Federation proves just how important sex ed really is, by highlighting a scary failure to provide young people with sexual health information and services. more ›

In July, a federal judge blocked NYC's law that requires "crisis pregnancy centers" to disclose whether they offer abortions and whether there's licensed medical care. Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) usually set up near Planned Parenthood offices, stopping women who are headed to Planned Parenthood and tell them, "We can do a free ultrasound and help you with prenatal care, all you have to do is say yes to life." But CPCs are not licensed medical providers. more ›

It's been a topsy-turvy year for the sexual health of the city. Back in March, the city took a step back when it quietly cut funding for free routine STD screenings at medical centers, but then last month made strides by implementing a more thorough sex ed curriculum across all public schools. Now, health care providers are feeling the effects of those decisions, as doctors are seeing an influx of patients seeking STD testing across the city. The catch? Many of those patients can't afford it. more ›

Students across the city will soon be giggling over condom application demonstrations in the classroom, now that the city is requiring public middle and high schoolers to take sex-ed classes covering more aspects of the birds and the bees. more ›

The war on women's health continues: The country is on the brink of a government shutdown because the Republicans don't want to continue $317 million in funding to Planned Parenthood. Even though more than 90% of Planned Parenthood's health care is preventive (each year, it gives nearly one million screenings for cervical cancer, 830,000 breast exams, affordable birth control to nearly 2.5 million patients, and nearly four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV testing), the GOP is hung up on the fact that Planned Parenthood offers abortion—though none of its federal funding goes towards abortion. more ›

Last week the House of Representatives approved a series of budget cuts which would include defunding Planned Parenthood. The funding legally cannot go toward abortion, so instead it would defund things like free pelvic and breast exams, family planning and HIV tests. And now, Bloomberg is getting in on the fight. more ›

Early this morning the House of Representatives approved $60 billion in cuts in federal spending, including blocking all federal Title X funding for Planned Parenthood. And that's causing a bit of an uproar. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said, “The time has come to respect the wishes of the majority of Americans who adamantly oppose using taxpayer dollars for abortions.” However, by law no Title X funds can be used for abortion. Instead, it would make things like free HIV testing, breast and cervical cancer screening, family planning and prenatal care out of reach for many Americans. more ›

If you want the world to know your opinion on abortion all the time, you might want to move to New Jersey. After a lawsuit where Children First accused the state of “content-based and viewpoint-based discrimination,” the New Jersey DMV is offering license plates with an anti-abortion slogan "Choose Life." Because anyone in favor of a woman's right to choose is clearly an opponent of life in any form. more ›

Previously, Carl Paladino made it clear that he was an opponent of abortion—even if the woman in question was raped, or a victim of incest, "the baby can be adopted." But Paladino's old enemy Fred Dicker discovered some fun facts: Paladino is the landlord for a Planned Parenthood in Niagara Falls, one which offers RU-486 pill ("medication abortion"), "medications to make the abortion more comfortable," pre- and post-abortion patient education and post-abortion follow-ups. more ›

Tyler Sargent plays bass in a little band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which may have caught your eye back in 2005 when they played the Gothamist Movable Hype 3.0 show at the Knitting Factory. We don’t want to call ourselves kingmakers, but ever since that night the band’s become kind of a big deal, in part because they were one of the first bands to break wide through blog buzz and a self-released album that moved over 45,000 copies in six months, all distributed out of Sargent’s Park Slope apartment. Tomorrow night they play a benefit concert at Bowery Ballroom for Planned Parenthood NYC; it’s sold out, of course, but mark your calendar for February 15th, when Gothamist anoints a new crop of indie rock darlings at Movable Hype 12.0 (it's also Gothamist’s 5th birthday.) Anyway, at some point over the weekend Tyler Sargent sat down at his computer and processed pithy answers to our questions. more ›

Aha! The Sun has some feedback from a number of organizations about the Manhattan Mini Storage billboard that proclaims "Your closet space is shrinking as fast as her right to choose" with a big hanger in the image. The ad, which on the storage company's West Side highway space, has been generating much controversy. more ›

FUNDRAISER: It's the 3rd Annual Summer, Sex and Spirits cocktail and shopping extravaganza. Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC), in conjunction with Brooklyn Indie Market join forces for the fundraiser, "an evening of mixing and mingling with retail therapy!" There will be $4 drink specials, 1/2 price sangria pitchers, a deejay and a giveaway...we're also guessing everyone will walk away with at least one free condom. more ›

The NYPD decided not to appeal a judge's decision that the NYPD should declassify its surveillance documents from the 2004 RNC, so it has set up a special NYPD RNC Documents website with the documents. Of course, you have to scroll down to the very bottom for a zip file of the 600 pages of documents. And what's above the documents is the NYPD's rather thorough explanation/ defense justifying why it did such extensive surveillance of disparate groups and people, listing various terror incidents between 2001 and the convention as well as other incidents of protest. Here is Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's statement:

“I think a close examination of the documents is going to show that the New York City Police Department did an outstanding job in protecting the City during the Republican National Convention. People wanted to come here and shut down the City, to replicate what happened in Seattle, Montreal and Genoa. We simply didn't let that happen, and I think it'll just underscore the outstanding work of the men and women of the Department. In terms of gathering information, the vast majority of information that was gathered was open-source information. It was gathered from the Internet; these groups that were coming here were advertising what they were going to do — bragging about what they were going to do. It wasn't particularly difficult to get the vast majority of this information.”

ACT UP, Sierra Club, City Council members (Charles Barron, David Weprin, Bill Perkins), Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Johnny Cash Bloc, MSNBC, A31 Coalition, NYCLU, NOW, Planned Parenthood, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Stuyvesant High School Students, Westboro Baptist Church, Indymedia, Democratic National Committee, Coalition of Fire and Police Unions, Grandmothers Against War, Falun Gong, Arab Muslim American Foundation, Time's Up, Billionaires For Bush, United for Peace and Justice, The Surveillance Camera Players, ACLU, Hip Hop Summit Action Network, The Federation of East Village Artists, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York