Karen Handel, the failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate and disgraced Susan G. Komen For the Cure executive who orchestrated Komen's catastrophic decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood, went on a delusional rant during a lecture to the conservative Family Research Council today about how Planned Parenthood "literally co-opted the color pink" from Susan G. Komen.
She also threatened PP CEO Cecile Richards personally, which is a bit rich coming from a woman writing a book called Planned Bullyhood about how Planned Parenthood is mean.
"Planned Parenthood counted on conservative elected officials to be quiet, and they were silent," she said. "But they didn't count on me. Cecile Richards has absolutely no idea who she's picked a fight with, folks."
Here's the full quote about Komen Pink™, care of Huffington Post's Laura Bassett:
"Public scrutiny around Planned Parenthood was really growing ... so [they] decided to make mammograms and that they were a primary deliverer of health services one of their key messages," she said in defense of Komen's decision to stop their grants. "They literally co-opted the color pink, and for most people the color pink is associated with the fight against breast cancer. Their website, everything they did was pink, pink, pink, wrapping themselves in what I like to call a cloak of legitimacy."
I'm pretty sure that when most people think of "pink," they think of girls in general, not Komen. But, thanks to Handel, I now know that it's possible to own colors! In related news, gray is mine, because I'm wearing a gray cardigan today. Don't fucking co-opt it from me.
"As I am the person who branded PP pink, this is tres amusing," former PP CEO and president Gloria Feldt told us via email. "We—credit to the field staff—created shirts and signs in preparation for the March for Women's Lives in 2004, along with the "Stand Up for PP (or, women's health, or choice, or you fill in the blank)" slogan on them. The color and branding stuck, and it tickles me to see them being used to this day. And I can assure you that Handel's assertion could not be further from the truth. Komen's pink brand never entered our minds."
She also noted that Komen's pink is kind of a wishy-washy hue as opposed to PP's vibrant magenta. Agreed.
Unfortunately, Kandel is rumored to be mulling a run for U.S. Senate in Georgia, so expect more diatribes coming your way soon. Maybe Planned Parenthood co-opted women's breasts, too?