Report Shows Girl Scout Troops Work With Pro-Abortion Planned Parenthood
by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
April 12, 2004
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) — A month after Girl Scouts of America CEO Kathy Cloninger announced on national television that her organization partners with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business, to teach sexual education to girls, a national pro-life organization has released the results of a survey showing more than one-quarter of GSA troops work with the pro-abortion group.
"We are astonished to find that, of the councils that responded to our questions, 26% have relationships with Planned Parenthood," said Jim Sedlak, executive director of STOPP International, an organization that actively opposes Planned Parenthood’s pro-abortion agenda.
"But what is even more surprising is that 79% of Girl Scout councils have not disclosed their position on Planned Parenthood by failing to answer a simple question — Do you have any relationship with Planned Parenthood," Sedlak added.
Of the 315 Girl Scout councils in the U.S., 17 councils reported having a relationship with Planned Parenthood and its affiliates, and 49 reported they do not. The other 249 refused to disclose any relationship.
According to STOPP, one council’s CEO admitted she was told to keep silent, and told STOPP, "I have been instructed to say ‘no comment’ to whatever you ask."
"If the Girl Scouts believe that partnering with Planned Parenthood is a benefit to young girls, then why are the Girl Scouts reluctant to talk about the connection?" asked Sedlak. "Their failure to answer the question leads many to wonder if these councils, in fact, do work with the organization. If that is the case, their stonewalling may represent an attempt to hide a relationship they do not want parents and the public to know about."
Sedlak asks that if any individuals discover that their council is involved with Planed Parenthood, to contact STOPP so it can update its site tracking Girl Scout Councils that have connections with the nation’s largest abortion business.
"It is important to understand, we are not at war with the Girl Scouts, but that we are trying to protect young girls from the evils of Planned Parenthood," said Sedlak. "We are simply asking that Girl Scout councils stop their partnership with Planned Parenthood."
STOPP’s investigation into Girl Scout councils across the country comes after Cloninger stated that Girl Scouts partner with many groups, including Planned Parenthood, during an interview on NBC’s "Today" show in March.
Cloninger was on the program to discuss a Girl Scout cookie boycott in the Waco, Texas area that resulted in the ending of a decade-long relationship with the Bluebonnet Council and the local Planned Parenthood affiliate.
Less than three weeks after John Pisciotta of Pro-Life Waco called for a boycott of the annual Girl Scout cookie sale, the board of directors of the Waco area council voted to end their partnership with Planned Parenthood of Central Texas, and issued a statement late February. The decision came almost a month earlier than expected, as Council Director Beth Vivio said previously that the council would take up the issue at their meeting on March 25.
Pisciotta, an economics professor at Baylor University, said the boycott alone did not provide the pressure to end the relationship.
"The pressure came when local, web, and national news outlets picked up the story," Pisciotta told LifeNews.com. "The result was a firestorm of protest about the local Girl Scout and Planned Parenthood entanglement."
According to Pisciotta, several troops in the Waco and Houston areas disbanded or severed ties with the national Girl Scout Organization during the Waco boycott.
Related Sites:
Girl Scouts of the USA – https://www.girlscouts.org
STOPP International Girl Scout Information Page –
https://www.all.org/stopp/scouts/index.htm
