More families and churches are breaking ties with the Girl Scouts because of its connection to the abortion chain Planned Parenthood.
This month, the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas was the latest to announce plans to stop hosting Girl Scout troops in its parishes. The parishes are being encouraged instead to charter American Heritage Girls troops, which teach Christian values and virtues.
The Girl Scouts’ ties to the Planned Parenthood abortion chain and other abortion advocates have led to an exodus of many Christian families and churches.
A 2015 report in the Dallas News indicated that the Girl Scouts’ numbers and funding have been shrinking during the past decade. The report states:
According to figures provided to The Associated Press, youth membership for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 [2015] was 1.88 million, down nearly 6.2 percent from 2014, and adult membership was 784,120, down 3.1 percent.
The total membership — now 2.66 million — is down more than 15 percent over three years, and down 30 percent from a peak of more than 3.8 million in 2003.
How much the Planned Parenthood connection has affected those numbers, the report did not say. However, LifeNews has reported numerous times about Christians discouraging participation in the Girl Scouts because of its abortion ties.
For more than a decade, Christian leaders have been urging families to disassociate with Girl Scouts because of its ties to the abortion industry. Back in 2004, a Catholic bishop in Texas issued a strong statement after an Austin-area Girl Scout troop sponsored a Planned Parenthood sexual education conference.
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In 2012, the national Catholic bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth launched an investigation into the Girl Scouts’ “possible problematic relationships with other organizations” and “problematic” materials, according to the AP.
And in 2016, St. Louis Catholic Archbishop Robert J. Carlson encouraged congregations to seek alternatives to the Girl Scouts because the group’s abortion connections go against Catholic teachings.
In the latest situation in Kansas, according to The Federalist:
[Archbishop Joseph Naumann ] noted the sexually-explicit and age-inappropriate materials designed for the Girl Scouts and the organization’s history of praising female “role models” who stand in stark contravention of Catholic principles. Then there is the Girl Scouts’ position that its troops should treat boys suffering from gender dysphoria as girls. All valid reasons for the archbishop to opt to transition to the American Heritage Girls.
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.
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. The other 249 refused to disclose any relationship.
Although the Girl Scout organization maintains that it takes “no position” on abortion, parents, churches and pro-life activists have long complained of the pro-abortion slant of the Girl Scouts’ resources, role models and affiliations. Christy Volanski, the mother of two former Girl Scouts, exposes the numerous ties between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood on her website Speak Now Girl Scouts.
In 2013, Girl Scouts USA shared a recommendation for abortion activist and former pro-abortion Texas legislator Wendy Davis as a 2013 Woman of the Year on their official Twitter account. The organization also suggested pro-abortion former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a woman “with courage, confidence, and character.”
Meanwhile, a national spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts, Kelly Parisi, is the former spokeswoman for a pro-abortion organization founded by Gloria Steinem.
The Girl Scouts also 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.
