The link between Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood has been a direct connection in my mind for years. Recently, my mom friends have started posting photos of their adorable little girls on my Facebook page with pleas to buy the cookies they peddle. Also, along with these pleas, has come a link to this SNOPES article which claims that the rumor stating a link between GS cookies and Planned Parenthood is FALSE.
Now, I generally think of SNOPES as pretty good at investigative journalism and give them the benefit of the doubt on their due diligence. But, this article does not demonstrate good investigative journalism. The search is on for the truth, because I don't want to keep spreading a rumor that isn't true.
I think SNOPES dropped the ball on this issue because they only asked one person one question. The GSUSA rep who gets paid to make this organization look good in the public's eye, said "no." Now, to be fair, she only addressed this claim:
Some or all of the proceeds of Girl Scout Cookies are disbursed to Planned Parenthood.
So, on this claim alone, the Snopes writer finds the premise to be false. But, I have to wonder if this is like Planned Parenthood's claim that no federal dollars pay for abortions? Because as we all know, receiving a large chunk of cash for one part of your business frees up your other funds for the other parts. So, where does cookie money go?
CBS asked one Minnesota council this question and got this answer. In the response, twenty percent (after paying for cookies to be baked and distributed of course) goes to the local troop. The rest is used for camps, administration, etc. Twelve percent goes to leadership programming. So, if the only question we ask is this: When I buy a box of Girl Scout cookies, will that money be used to directly pay for someone's child to be aborted? The answer is no. Is this enough to settle my conscience? The answer is also no.
I think we need to ask more questions. What is included in leadership programming? Does it include paying for speakers who promote Planned Parenthood? Does it help pay for the awards they give out, like honoring the Planned Parenthood CEO as a Woman of Distinction and presenting her as a role model for the next generation of girls?
The girlscouts.org website claims that the national council makes money from every box sold through licensing fees. This is not part of the $4 you pay to that little girl, rather it is based on the total number of boxes sold. So, if the only question we ask is will the national organization of GSUSA get money because I buy this box of cookies? The answer is yes. Yes, they will. They will receive funds from every box sold.
The writer of the Snopes article, and others, claim that cookie-cotts" organized by pro-life groups begin from false rumors. However, the Waco, Texas cookie-cott of 2014 had specific roots in the partnership between their local council and Planned Parenthood. The two organizations partnered to offer a sex education program for girls called Nobody's Fool that included the Girl Scout logo in their advertising materials and contained material on masturbation, birth control, homosexuality and abortion that many parents called graphic and some claimed that the material being taught was in opposition to their family values. These materials are in opposition to my family values too.
Some pro-life groups are concerned about not only the direct financial links, but all the associations. Planned Parenthood is just one of the global organizations that promote or provide abortions.
The website girlscouts.org explains their relationship with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts like this: "Every Girl Scout and Girl Guide organization is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts - and each Member Organization, including Girl Scouts of the USA, pays dues. WAGGGS operates in much the same way as the United Nations: Each Member Organization pays dues based on the size of its membership and per capita income of the country in which the organization resides." and explains the finances like this: "The national funds that GSUSA sends to WAGGGS come solely from investment income."
Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of GSUSA says her favorite quote is "Tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are."
If we take her advice, we might wonder about the GSUSA membership in WAGGGS - which they pay over $1 million dollars in membership dues to. Which according to the GS website, these dues are based directly on the number of girls who pay membership dues to GSUSA. Pro-life parents did wonder in 2013 when WAGGGS participated in a worldwide conference with the following partners: Featured speakers: late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart, philosopher and supporter of infanticide and euthanasia Peter Singer, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; breakout sessions titled "Outing and Addressing Abortion Stigma" and "Why I Perform Abortions." Exhibitors included abortion and population control advocates such as Amnesty International, Guttmacher Institute, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes International, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, United Nations Population Fund and WAGGGS.
Pro-life parents should be wondering what their girls are gaining from their membership in GSUSA when the organization is used to honor Wendy Davis as "Incredible Woman of the Year," after what ABC News called her "marathon filibuster against abortion restrictions" in Texas.
If we ask just one question: Will the $4 I give you to purchase this box of cookies be used to kill babies? the answer will be a resounding no. But, the truth lies deeper. The answer is more like, no, not really, but it might pay for pro-abortion speakers to come and teach us Planned Parenthood curriculum. The national organization will receive licensing fees for the sale of this box you are purchasing and that organization will pay membership fees to a worldwide organization that will be promoting abortion around the world. So, if you would like to subtly support abortion, while pretending you don't, then yes, your purchase will do that.
Final Personal Note: I would not consider this to be investigative journalism either. But, the beginning of an investigation is to ask more than one question. You could easily find much more information and documentation of the link between these organizations with a little time.
I was convinced to pull my girls from Scouting when we received a new Junior book that stated in parentheses after the phrase "On my honor I will try to serve God and my country..." a side note claiming the word 'God' could be replaced by any appropriate word that represented the girls faith.
It was a year or so later that we learned that they CEO of PP had been honored by the Girl Scouts and knew that we were right to pull out.
I have not questioned this decision since then, until a mom whose daughter is selling cookies posted the Snopes link. I thought I should revisit the issue to see if things had changed. If anything, it is worse.
I still believe that the links between Girl Scouts and the abortion industry are too many to ignore. I'm not asking you to boycott your local girls or start yelling at them about abortion when they ask, but do a little digging for yourself and let your conscience decide.
No comments:
Post a Comment