Video: Moms of Ex-Girl Scouts Say GSUSA CEO Lying About Planned Parenthood Link

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 28, 2014   |   1:01PM   |   Washington, DC

Mothers of girls who are former members of the Girl Scouts say the CEO of Girl Scouts USA is essentially lying in recent claims that the organization has no relationship with the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

As LifeNews has reported, the Girl Scouts have a longstanding relationship with Planned Parenthood and have lashed out at pro-life groups bringing that to light.

Now, Girl Scout moms participating in the national Girl Scout cookie boycott released a video Thursday calling Girl Scout CEO Anna Marie Chavez “misleading and deceitful.”

As Breitbart News reports:

girlscouts5The moms are responding to a YouTube video released by Anna Marie Chavez last week that was intended to quell a growing protest movement coming during the crucial annual cookie-buying season.

In her video, Chavez bluntly states the Girl Scouts stand committed to “serving God.”

The moms’ video claims this assertion is only made “when it is convenient” and points out that duty to God in the Girl Scouts “is optional.”

Chavez claims the Girl Scouts “have not now [nor] ever have had a relationship with Planned Parenthood.”

The moms’ video says this is “blatantly false” and points out how the Council level of Girl Scouts “has a long history of working with Planned Parenthood, with documented examples as far back as 1972 and continuing to 2013.”

The moms’ video asserts the Girl Scouts have consistently defended their relationships with Planned Parenthood, including former Girl Scout CEO Kathy Cloninger who admitted such relationships on the Today show in 2004. The video also points to a 2011 interview between a Girl Scout spokesman and CNS News in which the spokesman confirmed “that local councils may partner with whomever they choose, including Planned Parenthood.”

The pro-life movement has been concerned for a number of years about the ties between the Girl Scouts and the Planned Parenthood abortion business, which date back to the 1970s. Although the Girl Scout organization maintains that it takes “no position” on the issue of abortion, parents, churches, and pro-life activists have long complained of the pro-abortion slant of the Girl Scouts’ resources, role models, and affiliations.

The links between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood are longstanding, with a Girl Scouts CEO and individual troops admitting as much.

The ties between the two groups have been questioned ever since former Girl Scouts CEO Kathy Cloninger admitted on NBC’s The Today Show: “We partner with many organizations. We have relationships with…Planned Parenthood organizations across the country.” See the video here.

Then, in a national survey, seventeen Girl Scouts councils admit to partnering with Planned Parenthood; many other councils refuse to answer the survey question. 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 — or 25% of all Girl Scout troops responding to the survey. The other 249 refused to disclose any possible relationship.

In 2010-2011 Girls Scouts in New York partnered with Planned Parenthood for a sex-ed program, “Real Life. Real Talk.” The program website touts their partners (link has since been removed): “Real Life. Real Talk. is proud to count the following organizations, faith communities and companies as partners: …Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways.” See screenshot of program web page here.

In June 2013, the Girl Scouts promoted a video honoring abortion activists and having pro-abortion advocate Amy Richards as their guest speaker.  Because the MAKERS narrative is so unabashedly pro-abortion, it strips away all pretense that the Girl Scouts USA is ‘neutral’ on the issue of abortion.

The Girl Scouts have been criticized for their involvement in the May, 2013 Women Deliver Conference, an international event that included “safe and legal abortion” among its overarching themes. It documents its role in the planning and facilitating of the December, 2012 Bali Global Youth Forum and the outcome declaration, which demands youth access to abortion.

For fourteen years, the Girls Scouts in Waco, TX co-sponsored a sex ed conference with Planned Parenthood. “It’s Perfectly Normal” a book written by a Planned Parenthood executive was  given to all children in attendance says abortion can be “a positive experience.” And in January 2012, Girl Scouts employee Renise Rodriguez wore a “Pray to End Abortion” t-shirt during off-duty visit to her Tucson Girl Scout office and was ordered to her to turn the shirt inside out or leave. View the 2003 event brochure listing Girl Scouts as a cosponsor here [PDF].

As LifeNews reported in 2012, the Girl Scouts joined with Planned Parenthood to head a UN conference and LifeNews reported on the investigation the Catholic Church is undertaking into the ties between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups.

The Girl Scouts have also promoted pro-abortion elected officials. Fresh on the heels of Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) sharing a recommendation for pro-abortion Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis as a 2013 Woman of the Year via their official Twitter account, the organization suggested pro-abortion HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a woman “with courage, confidence, and character.”

Meanwhile, the new national spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts, Kelly Parisi, is the former spokeswoman for a pro-abortion organization — one founded by Gloria Steinem.