Planned Bullyhood

Planned Bullyhood: The Truth about the Planned Parenthood Funding Battle with Susan G Komen for the Cure by Karen Handel, 276 pages

In 2011, the Komen breast cancer charity, instantly recognizable across America by its pink ribbon brand, made the decision to end its grants to Planned Parenthood.  This ignited a controversy which dominated a news cycle, until Komen pledged to reinstate the grants.  At the center of this decision, and the resulting controversy, was Komen's Senior Vice President Karen Handel, a former candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Georgia.  This book represents her account of the decision, the controversy, and the aftermath.

It is Handel's contention that Komen faced a preplanned attack coordinated by Planned Parenthood supporters inside Komen and the news media.  She believes that the real issue was not the relatively small amount of funding at stake, but the framing of a political narrative for the 2012 presidential campaign.  Perhaps she's right.  Unfortunately, based on the book, it is difficult to have much sympathy for her.  Distracting from the specifics of the Komen-Planned Parenthood firestorm is Handel's inadvertent portrayal of high-level politics and philanthropy, where people move freely between private and public sectors, and everything seems to be about having the right connections.  Handel herself comes across as narcissistic, blaming everyone except herself and spending more time on scandals involving her opponent in the 2010 gubernatorial primary than the Live Action exposes of Planned Parenthood which actually impact her narrative.  Likewise, her continued assertions that there was no political reason for the withdrawal of the grants ring hollow in light of her equally frequent expressions of outrage over Planned Parenthood's links with the Democratic Party.

A self-serving book that will please no one - except maybe Handel herself.