Planned Parenthood Created Indiana Girl Scouts Sex Ed Program

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 23, 2012   |   6:00PM   |   Bloomington, IN

Yet another link between the Planned Parenthood abortion business and the Girl Scouts has come to light and it is giving pro-life advocates further pause about their involvement in the organization.

Indiana Right to Life has learned the city of Bloomington, Indiana web site in 2009 reported the direct involvement of a Planned Parenthood “health and sexuality” educator in the development of a Girl Scouts program targeted to girls as young as five years-old.

In its report on the 2009 Woman of the Year and Lifetime Contribution Award, the site notes that Anne Reese was nominated posthumously for the Lifetime Contribution Award.  The report continues, “Anne’s career started with Planned Parenthood in Bloomington where she worked for many years as a health and sexuality educator, and helped initiate the Family Life Education program for Girl Scouts ages five to 18 throughout a twelve-county area.”

The new revelation comes on the heels of Indiana state representative Bob Morris’ refusal to sign onto a resolution honoring the Girl Scouts out of concerns over the organization’s objectionable partnerships such as the one reported on the City of Bloomington web site.

“We are deeply concerned by this new information,” states Indiana Right to Life president Mike Fichter. “The Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood have both dismissed Rep. Morris’ concerns as baseless, yet the Bloomington web site could not be any clearer.”

Morris became the only legislator in the Indiana House to withhold his support for a resolution honoring the Girl Scouts of America. Fichter says he saw the letter Morris wrote before it drew attention from the media and said it struck him as nothing more than a legislator who performed his due diligence in Googling the term Girl Scouts Planned Parenthood.

“What I didn’t expect was the giant sound of hyperventilation resonating from coast-to-coast. First it blew up on Twitter, then it blew up on cable, then it just blew up,” he said. “Overnight, Morris became the target of ridicule, misinformation and worse. Most assume it was because he impugned the reputation of the organization known for those famous cookies we’ve all enjoyed at one time or the other. But from a different view, I’m not so sure all of this noise is so much about the Girl Scouts as it is about – once again — Planned Parenthood.”

“Maybe the better question is: “why is this guy so concerned”? This lack of asking the right question has led every single report that I’ve read to overtly ignore the fact that former Girl Scouts of America CEO Kathy Cloninger stated on NBC’s Today Show that yes, the Girls Scouts partner with Planned Parenthood. That’s not urban legend, that’s YouTube,” he added. “Call me silly, but when a CEO says her organization partners with Planned Parenthood, I take it that her organization partners with Planned Parenthood.”

Fichter notes that concerns over potential partnerships between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood have been percolating since former Girl Scouts of America CEO Kathy Cloninger affirmed on NBC’s Today Show in 2004 that the Girl Scouts did partner with Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana is the state’s largest abortion business,  annually doing more than half of Indiana’s 10,000-plus abortions each year through its four abortion clinics, including its abortion clinic in Bloomington.