According to a new AP wire story, a SGK Foundation insider tells quite a different story than Ambassador Brinker.
Brinker's version:
Komen's top leaders, in their first news conference since the controversy erupted, denied Planned Parenthood's assertion that the decision was driven by pressure from anti-abortion groups.
"We don't base our funding decisions ... on whether one side or the other will be pleased," said Komen's founder and CEO, Nancy Brinker, depicting the criticism as a mischaracterization of the charity's goals and mission.
Komen has said the decision stemmed from newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations under investigation — affecting Planned Parenthood because of an inquiry by a Republican congressman acting with encouragement from anti-abortion activists.
Brinker said Thursday there were additional factors, notably changes in the types of breast-health service providers it wanted to support. But she said grants would continue this year to three of the 19 Planned Parenthood affiliates — in Denver, California's Orange County, and Waco, Texas — because they served clientele with few other breast-screening options.
A slightly different version from an insider:
A source with direct knowledge of decision-making at Komen's headquarters in Dallas gave a different account, saying the grant-making criteria were adopted with the deliberate intention of targeting Planned Parenthood. The criteria's impact on Planned Parenthood and its status as the focus of government investigations were highlighted in a memo distributed to Komen affiliates in December.
According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, a driving force behind the move was Karen Handel, who was hired by Komen last year as vice president for public policy after losing a campaign for governor in Georgia in which she stressed her anti-abortion views and frequently denounced Planned Parenthood.
Oh, and AP adds, in the interest of fair balance...
Brinker, in an interview with MSNBC, said Handel didn't have a significant role in the policy change.
And then there's this eensy, weensy inconsistency, reported by Silicon Valley MercuryNews.com:
[Brinker's] comments directly contradicted those of John Raffaelli, a Komen board member and Washington lobbyist, who told The New York Times on Wednesday that Komen made the changes to its grant-making process specifically to end its relationship with Planned Parenthood. Raffaelli said that Komen had become increasingly worried that an investigation of Planned Parenthood by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., would damage Komen's credibility with donors.
NY Times article 1
NY Times article 2
And now on to Explanation B, in essence, 'Planned Parenthood wasn't really meeting our program needs.'
Could you write a worse script? What a P.R. and reputational disaster!