Watchdog: Girl Scouts partners with late-term abortion advocates for event

In mid-July of 2012, Live Action News published a piece about the connection between the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and Planned Parenthood. The piece mentions how Rochelle Focaracci, a former Girl Scouts troop leader, came to discover the connection. She not only decided to leave the Girl Scouts, but set up an organization and website, “Girl Scouts, Why Not?”

And Rochelle has caught news of a further connection Girl Scouts has with the abortion industry. Earlier this month, a press release was published on behalf of “Girl Scouts, Why Not?” which alerts readers to an event that was held for the Girl Scouts by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia. The press release states that its purpose is about “warning families about the political and immoral indoctrination taking place in the leadership levels of the Girl Scouts.”

The term “indoctrination” is well-chosen, particularly considering the kind of events held for Girl Scouts and the information available and promoted to its members. The RNC for Life recently published a short piece as well about the Girl Scouts and contains several links, including a position statement from WAGGGS, “talking about sex.” The “Happy, Healthy, and Hot” booklet from International Planned Parenthood Federation is also displayed on the website of the World YWCA, a partner of WAGGGS. The links from the RNC for Life and on the website for “Girl Scouts, Why Not?” contain further examples.

For this particular event held by ACLU, here’s what happened:

In June of 2012, the Girl Scouts partnered with the ACLU of Georgia for “Law and Order Day.” “The Girl Scouts are not only working with the ACLU, but also are promoting the group in their own literature,” said Rochelle Focaracci, spokesperson for “Girl Scouts Why Not”.

The Girl Scouts handbook Your Voice, Your World encourages girls to consider a career as an ACLU lawyer on page 98. In this same handbook on page 42, Girl Scouts promotes Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and her organization, the ACLU, as a “voice for good.”

With such an event, “indoctrination” seems like a pretty accurate word to use.

If the connection that the Girl Scouts has with Planned Parenthood isn’t alarming enough to pro-lifers, for the Girl Scouts to have an event held by the ACLU of Georgia is pretty disconcerting. Many may already know that the ACLU is a group which supports abortion, to the point of opposing almost all laws restricting abortion. For those who wish to know more about the ACLU of Georgia specifically, the press release contains a helpful amount of information:

“Girl Scouts Why Not” is concerned about the relationship the Girl Scouts have with the ACLU because of the ACLU’s promotion of abortion, support of the HHS mandate, and the effort to overturn Georgia’s recently enacted Fetal Pain bill. Many pro-lifers are aware of the lawsuit the ACLU has filed, which has placed a hold on the Fetal Pain bill signed by the Governor of Georgia. If not for the ACLU, this law would have gone into effect on January 1st, 2013 and would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Until this hold is lifted, Georgia will continue to allow abortions for almost any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

And while the people running Girl Scouts USA claim that they “do not take a position or develop materials on these issues[,]” their close connection to an organization deeply connected with late-term abortion is very troubling. If faithful pro-lifers are to truly stand by their beliefs, then the Girl Scouts is an organization they should not get involved with. The Girl Scouts has shown that despite what its spokespeople say, the organization has no problem partnering with abortion advocates.