Writer Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket Pledges $1 Million To Planned Parenthood

Fortune has favored Daniel Handler, the Bay Area author who penned the Edward Gorey-meets-Charles Dickens children's books A Series Of Unfortunate Eventsunder the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. Now he and his wife, illustrator Lisa Brown, are sharing some of their personal fortune with Planned Parenthood. As Handler tweeted:

Planned Parenthood is, of course, a reproductive health organization that spends 97 percent of its funding on cancer screenings, STI screenings and treatments, contraception, and other services. Just 3 percent of the organization's funding goes toward abortions, which are a legal procedure Planned Parenthood safely provides. But try telling that to some people.

As the New York Times writes in reporting on the couple's contribution:

Planned Parenthood, which provides an array of health services, including abortions, through clinics and affiliates, has been embroiled in a fierce fight with Congressional Republicans who want to cut off federal funding to the organization. Some lawmakers threatened to shut down the federal government to do so.

In addition to A Series of Unfortunate Events, Handler is the author of The Dark and We Are Pirates. Brown is an illustrator and educator whose works include the book How To Be.