I want a better life for my daughter. I don’t want my daughter to get sucked into the world of Planned Parenthood, the world of the “women’s reproductive movement,” the idea that abortion is acceptable. I want her to know that abortion is evil. I want her to know with 100% certainty that Planned Parenthood is intrinsically evil, regardless of what “good” they are doing.
Not only do I want her to KNOW it, but I want her to DEFEND it. I am raising a pro-life apologist, something I was not. I do not want to raise a statistic. I want to raise a strong, independent, young woman who is proud to identify as a feminist and pro-life.
If I want that for my child, should I start teaching her about the benefits of “reproductive choice” while she is still in grade school? Should I have her go to camps that are partnered with and sponsored by Planned Parenthood? Should I allow her to spend her allowance money on items and treasures that will go toward Planned Parenthood? No, of course not. That wouldn’t make sense. That would go against everything I just stated previously.
Well, guess what, my friends? If your beautiful girls are in the Girls Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), that’s exactly what you are doing. Don’t believe me? Keep reading.
Nobody loves brochures more than Planned Parenthood. I mean, they have a brochure for everything! You can go out and save the world if you will just take a few dozen of their beautifully branded brochures, of course, you can’t find any information on adoption, prenatal care or fetal development, but I digress.
I will never forget the first time I saw a GSUSA logo on the back of one of our brochures. We had just received a new shipment of life-changing (blah) brochures in the mail. I flipped them over and there it was, Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Surely this was a brochure about being sexually abstinent or about keeping yourself safe from violence, right? Nope.
It was about “how to know you are ready for sex.” Really? Girl Scouts? “Do Girl Scouts have sex?,” I immediately thought They are supposed to be selling cookies, not having sex. Wow. So this is where that cookie money goes. I didn’t think much about it at the time. I was, of course, glad to see the collaboration, but now it makes me sick.
When I left Planned Parenthood, I started to really look into this more carefully. Did the connection do even deeper? I couldn’t believe what I discovered. I saw a video clip on a morning show of the President of GSUSA stating that they had a “longstanding relationship with Planned Parenthood.” Really? Then, why weren’t we talking about it???
Soon after, I found out that some of us were taking about it. I started meeting different people who were very passionate about this issue. Many of them had been leaders and some had even pulled their girls out of GSUSA.
They had seen, first hand, the corruption inside of GSUSA. They had seen the partnership between Planned Parenthood and GSUSA. So, I had to ask, why this wasn’t a bigger deal. It turns out that they were getting a lot of pushback, but they were only speaking the truth! Who doesn’t want to hear the truth?? You know who their biggest opposition is? Churches.
I would like to say that I am surprised, but honestly, I’m not. Apathy runs rampant in our churches. It seems to hurt a little more when the Church is complicit with the mission of Planned Parenthood and their mission. How is it that when a member(s) of a church bring evidence to their clergy that a group their church supports is supporting Planned Parenthood, that clergy member refuses to pull support and actually continues to support the program without hesitation??
So, we aren’t pro-life? So, our church does support Planned Parenthood? So, our church does support the abortion agenda? So, our church doesn’t believe in teaching our children to respect their bodies and remain abstinent until marriage? If our churches support Girl Scouts in ANY way, that is EXACTLY what we are saying.
Some may say “well, we have a really great Girl Scout group here and it is run by wonderful Christian women and none of that funny business happens with our girls.” Okay. Go here with me for a minute…
There is a Planned Parenthood clinic in Nowhere, Texas. They don’t perform any sort of abortion services. They only provide annual exams, testing, birth control, and counseling. Oh, and the women there are just the sweetest! In fact, one of them goes to a church you know right down the street. She’s even in the same Bible study class with a friend of yours.
Your friend says she is just fantastic. And wouldn’t you know, it’s really okay she works at Planned Parenthood because they don’t actually DO the abortions at her location. They are just helping women at her center. Actually, the worker there, she doesn’t even really care for abortion. I mean, really, as long as she isn’t doing abortions and that center doesn’t do abortions, Planned Parenthood is really an asset to the community!
Now that you think about it, ANY Planned Parenthood that doesn’t provide abortions is really okay. We should just work to shut down the ones that actually DO the abortion procedures. Yeah, that’s a better idea.
So, that’s what we think, right? NO, NO, NO!!! We don’t think that! We don’t just want some Planned Parenthood centers to close down, we want them ALL to go! Why? The organization as a whole promotes abortion. It’s the same thing with GSUSA. GSUSA, as a whole, promotes Planned Parenthood.
Is it a hard pill to swallow? Yes. Does it taste bad as it goes down? Yep. No one loves thin mints more than me, but there are no more Girl Scout cookies in this house. My daughter will not be a part of GSUSA. I will not support any curriculum that supports GSUSA.
Guys, these are our children!! Our kids, who are young and impressionable, and vulnerable. Why take the chance? Be courageous. Take a stand. e a leader for your children. Be a leader in your church. Stand up for our girls. Stand up for their true rights, for their true self-worth. Be a true role model. Show your children what it means to do the RIGHT thing, even when no one else is courageous enough to step up to the plate.
Is it easy to go against the main stream? Nope. It is usually not easy to do the right thing, but doing the right thing is the will of God. I will pick God over the easy thing any day.
You know what else? There is an alternative, there are many actually, to GSUSA. There is an amazing group called American Heritage Girls. They are an actual scouting group and they stand up for Christian principles and doing the right thing. How refreshing! For more information about getting your young one signed up or starting your own chapter, go to the American Heritage Girls.
I also want you to know that I am not simply giving out my opinion here. GSUSA is linked to Planned Parenthood. There are many groups that are now dedicating their lives to spreading this information. One of the best websites out there with ONLY facts is Girl Scouts, Why Not?.
One of the women that run the website was a GSUSA leader for many years. After she learned the truth about the GSUSA-PP connection, she resigned and pulled her daughter out of the group. She and her family now dedicate t
heir lives to getting the truth out about this terrible connection.
Has it been easy? No, but she says after she left, it was one of the most “freeing feelings” she has ever felt, just doing the right thing. There is so much awesome information on their website. You really need to spend some time checking it all out, reading all of the information posted, clicking all of the links. You will not be sorry.
If you care about our next generation, then spread this message. Send out the website, www.girlscoutswhynot.com. We say we want better for our kids and our grandchildren, now it’s your turn to make a difference.
Thank you Abby! Parents deserve to know the truth … GSUSA is not eager to admit their relationship with Planned Parenthood but it is undeniable. God bless you for shining a light on this darkness!
Thanks for “making it plain”! I’ve known a good bit of what you said for quite some time, but some of it was new to me. NO MORE Girl Scout cookies in MY house! (At least not as long as they continue to partner with PP, which I sadly think will continue for quite some time, unless Christians are bold enough & courageous enough (YES, I said COURAGEOUS) to Stand for What IS Right!I should add that this is the second “bitter” decision this week for me. Earlier this week information became public about a company that does business with Pepsi & I was APPALLED! I am a HUGE fan of Mtn. Dew! HOWEVER, I quit Cold Turkey as soon as I found out! (Hey, doing without Mtn. Dew never killed anyone & it will certainly help my weight loss, but that is not the MAIN reasons.)
Thanks again for sharing the hard truth!
So sad that we are allowing PP to target our children through organizations like GSA…they are ruthless in their endeavors to find and create future customers! Is there no shame?
Hi Abbey,I pulled my daughter from GSA for this very reason. It was sad. I was a Girl Scout until I was 14, I loved it. My oldest daughter was in for 9 years. We did have lovely women running it. But then a funny thing happened. Our local council, in conjunction with Planned Parenthood, planned a spa day for the girls. My daughter was 8. EIGHT! The day was a day a beauty and education on many topics, and the lovely brochure had some sketchy sounding titles to the sessions. I don’t remember what they were exactly, but upon investigation, one of them was about exploring their sexuality. There were others that seemed questionable to me, but I didn’t stick around to find out more. I pulled my daughter out. We’ve never participated in Girl Scout since. It does sadden me, because all the actual SCOUTING was wonderful. Thanks for publicizing this – it needs to be said and heard.
P.S – I read your book – I couldn’t put it down. None of it surprised me, other than your rapid conversion, but that’s how the Holy Spirit works sometimes. Welcome home!God bless you for the work you are doing.
very interesting… i was just about to sign my 6 yr old daughter up next fall. now, i have to figure out a nice way to break it to her. thanks for the enlightenment on this. just curious — are the boy scouts of america in any way affiliated with PP, too?
No. Boy Scouts is definitely a safe organization for our kids to join.
Thank you, Abby!!! I pulled my precious little girls out of Girl Scouts 26 years ago…after just two weeks of involvement. Although I was not aware of Planned Parenthood’s involvement at that time, I had reviewed the materials given to us and had a very strong check in my spirit. After attending one meeting in particular, it was clear to me that this was NOT a family friendly organization and I realized right then and there that I needed to pull my girls out. Sadly, there are a multitude of such organizations locally and nationally, but parents are too “otherwise engaged” to notice exactly what is being taught.
Thank you, again, for this thorough article, which I will certainly be linking to on my blog!
God Bless your endeavors!
I can understand getting out/severing ties with GS. I understand that there is an alternative to GS. But what about working to get PP out of GS? Are there groups working towards this? Is that concept somehow a lost cause, even with all the recent heat against PP? I am a GS leader and active in my local service unit, going on four years now. The first time I ever heard of this connection was about a year ago (United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and the “Healthy Happy Hot” brocure) The issue sort of went away, and is now arising again…giving me serious pause, causing me to pray for discernment. Cherry Beiber said she pulled her daughter out of GS 26 years ago…has there been a tie between GS and PP for that long? And, finally, are there still brochures being printed and displayed by PP that have the GS logo on them? I’m sorry to be so naive and ask so many questions, but I feel very convicted about this issue, and noone in my service unit, council or community discusses this issue at all.
I have my daughter in AHG. And I was so happy to see your mention of them! I lead the Pathfinder (the youngest) group and I love being involved with such a morally straight and God fearing group! My brothers have been involved in BSA for years. They are part of a strong Christian group and have never had the same issue that the GSA seem to have.If any of you are looking for a great way to do scouting for your girls, check out the website Abby mentioned!
For Caryl and other Girl Scouts who want to fight: A timeline history of the Girl Scout-Planned Parenthood connection can be found on the HonestGirlScouts.com website. There is also a game plan for keeping a troop while not being an asset to their pro-abortion agenda in the Just One Box page in “Take Action.” My troop “went retro” last year did not sell more than Just One Box of cookies, we used hand-me-down books, we learned how to sew our uniforms, embroidered our troop number patches and bought our fun patches from an outside source. We had a bake sale and two garage sales and pulled in more money than we ever did selling those expensive GS cookies (by the way, if you love Thin Mints and Samoas, Keebler cookies sell Grasshoppers and a Samoa clone in grocery stores). We cost our Council more than we ever paid in. By being a Girl Scout member and spreading the truth about GSUSA, we are fighting from within. If we really want to make a stand, next cookie season, we should have our Girl Scouts in full uniform boycotting sales. That would make the news, wouldn’t it?
I am glad this was brought up. I do NOT believe staying in an organization to “fight from within” is the appropriate response. I have clinic workers contact me weekly who want to leave the abortion industry. Should I tell them to stick it out and just try to save as many babies as they can from within? I mean, surely it’s fine to participate in the sin as long as you trying to fight against it, right? I do not believe that to be true. I believe the best way to fight this is by getting OUT of the organization, starting alternative organizations, spreading the word on every public forum you are a part of, spreading the word to all of your friends and family, get the info out to your local media, and inform your CHURCH!!! There needs to be an exodus from GSA. It needs to start from within the church.
Wonderful article! I’m so happy that you are working on getting this info out to others. My daughter has been in American Heritage Girls for 2 years now, and I am an assistant for the 4th and 5th grade girls, the Explorers. AHG is now in partnership with BSA, and it is a wonderful thing to have both of our groups on the same page. I encourage everyone, intending to join or not, to check out ahgonline.org. This is a wonderful organization that is 16 years going and currently in 48 states. We need to stand up and protect our children!
I was a leader in GS until last year when all the controversy began with the UN conference. I then looked into this issue, and could not continue in good conscience endorsing the GS organization anymore. Before I left, I tried getting answers from my Service Unit coordinator and even contacted the national office and they towed the party line. The national office said they would be releasing a statement, so I waited to find out what they would say. The statement said more by what it didn’t say than what was printed. There was no mention in the letter that they did not have partnerships with PP or anything that settled my concerns-if anything it made my concerns worse because if they couldn’t answer the questions straight, what did they have to hide?
Along with a couple of other concerned moms, started and American Heritage Girls troop this year at our church, and were hoping we would get 15 girls to start with. We had 45 girls register, and we have had an amazing year! I feel so blessed to be able to share my love of scouting and my faith with these girls!
Thank you for mentioning AHG and I hope others will be drawn to look into the difference in these organizations.
Hear that infant crying in fear and pain? You’ve thrown the baby out with the bath water. You have to teach kids (boys and girls)to be responsible and safe. You can’t assume that they will always make the choice of abstinance. Ten years old isn’t too soon. I’m 76. When I was 12 or 13, I knew a 10 year old girl who was pregnant. I knew many other pregnant girls during my teen years. There were lots of homes and adoption services for pregnant teens back then, but no services that tought them responsibility and helped them with the tools to stay safe if (realistically, for most teens, when) they made unwise choices regarding sex before marriage.
Please visit our wonderful new friends in this battle against evil: http://www.speaknowgirlscouts.comBlessings,
http://www.girlscoutswhynot.com
[…] Parenthood even has their tentacles in the Girl Scouts organization. (Hat tip: An Un-civil […]
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My daughter joined GS’s this year as a 9 yr old. The whole year was just wierd. They were always disresectful, rude, loud, out of control, etc. But my two friends were the leaders so we stuck it out. I thought it would help my daughter, as our home life was difficult for awhile. But everytime we went, the girls were just terrible. My mom noticed the chaos, my daughter too. I had an abortion 11 yrs ago. Two years ago, I went through Rachel’s Vineyard & am now very much vocal about PP, and the truth about abortion. I am Silent No More. So I never gave much thought about the connection with GSA & PP, too much going on I guess. My personal life was a mess. Anyways, I read recently about the connection the two have. I tried to look it up online & in my daughter’s guide book. Couldn’t find anything definite. I asked her leader if she had a upper level book, whatever they call them. She was short and just said, “no, they were coming out with new ones this year”. Now that I know the truth, for real, we are so done with GS. No more cookies, no more outings. We even sold the cookies in our Pregnancy Center, no more!!!! I will definetly be spreading the word, the truth about PP & GSA. Thank you so much for the “true” info.
Bert:
No one said NOT to educate their sons and daughters. It is not the role of PP to do so ESPECIALLY since they push abortion. Obviously, there are still many teen pregnancies. People aren’t blind nor dumb to believe that every teenager will abstain.
Once again, PP should never have put their claws into GS and GS should also not have allowed it.
Hi Abby, you mentioned a PP brochure with the GSA logo on the back. Where can I find that? I recently passed the story about GSA and PP link to a girl scout mom and she basically didn’t believe. She quoted the official response of the Girl Scout management and a letter of the Catholic Youth ministry and stated that the couple who runs the GS in town is “wonderful” and with no feminist agenda. Is there any brochure or else from PP that shows the partnership?
Precious Abby,
I have been following your story for quite some time and am thrilled to have found your blog. I am in my early 40’s and as a child my mother WOULD NOT allow me to be associated with the GSA (Brownies). I always thought she was just being mean…but now I know she was onto some things! As an alternative she sent me to a Christian summer camp (Greystone) so I could get the camping out of my system. Now that I have 2 little girls of my own (and can’t afford summer camp *smiles*) I am thrilled to know about AHG and plan to look into their organization.
Thank you for what you do!
ml
HI Abby!
Thanks for a great post! My girls are too young for GSA and they will not be joining when they are old enough. I know that the moms in our Parish kind of were put on guard when they noticed an asterisk beside the name of God in the Girl Scouts Manual. I was a GS and I remember God being a huge part… not anymore I guess.
For more information about their partnership with the UN, check this out: http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1589/pub_detail.asp
It’s an article from 2010, but it’s really disturbing in my opinion as a parent.
Pax Christi, and Thank you for your work!
Wow….I’m speechless and ashamed at the reactions I’m reading on here. I believe the connection between the two should be open and publicized. But they aren’t “fishing for future customers”. That’s absurd and ridiculous. Abortion IS and SHOULD be a valid option for those who seek it out. And education is key.
I’m with Caryl (post on May 27), hate to sound naive and somewhat suspect, but where are these posts and statements by PP and the Girl Scout organization leadership that were mentioned? where are the links to the UN brochure and the GS statement that was made earlier? Besides the PP link, GS has so many other problems that make it difficult to be a part of (lack of leadership, direction, a not scientifically based environmental agenda, God* (really, an asterix by GOD in their oath so you can put in the diety that you believe in? come on!). BSA is truly an organization that has leadership, patriotism and stands firm in their beliefs. You cannot be an atheist and be a Boy Scout. You can be an atheist and be a Girl Scout. That is the critical difference.
Thank you Abby for your post on GS and the PP link. The leaders of our parish GS groups were “fired” after they started asking these questions of GS 5 years ago. They started a flourishing Little Flower girl group that does the fun things that GS does but has a program of teaching virtues to the young girls. Info on the LIttle Flowers program can be found at
http://www.eccehomopress.com/Little-Flowers-Home.html
My 7-year old has been in Girl Scouts for about a year now. This article really makes me sad. I’m glad you posted it, but my daughter loves the group she’s with and, of course, there are several Christians invovled, both as parents and as leaders.
I will NOT endorse PP. Bert, I knew several pregnant women in my high school. My older daughters knew of pregnant girls in middle school. THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT RIGHT.
Our role, as parents, isn’t to teach our kids what to do when they don’t listen. Our role is to teach our children to follow our example. IF they don’t listen, then they learn that actions have consequences.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who will not be sending my kids to Girl Scouts. My daughter goes to Catholic school and I was really upset when I learned that they had a GS troop there. I told one of the moms about the PP link, and she asked the higher up about it and they said, “Oh, well we just have them come in for sex information for our older kids.” What?! I wrote the school principal and priest and got no reply. I’m hoping that I can somehow get them to realize that they should not be support GS, but I don’t know how to do it. I wish we had some of the other Christian scouts in our area, I’d love for my daughters to be a part of it.
Abby, is there any way to get a copy of that PP brochure with the Girl Scout logo on it (the current one they are sending out does not have it)? That would be a great way to shut up all the naysayers out there who keep insisting their relationship is fiction!
Thank you Abby for your courage!
A couple of ladies at our Catholic Parish learned about the PP-GS (one of the ladies is a writer/reporter) link and found it very disturbing and started a new club-The Little FLowers of St. Theresa-that focuses on virtues and Saints. Way to go Abby!
Thanks Abby & I thank God that the Holy Spirit came into your life to “wake” you up, now if people such as Meg that believes it is alright to torture & kill a baby will get educated about the truth, than maybe companies such as Johnson & Johnson (so-called baby company) & Pepsi that Stephanie mentioned above (these companies are using aborted babies for their products: Pepsi wants to put out a new drink: that should make us feel good all over) & as much as I love Mountain Dew, I will not buy another Pepsi product or go to any of their various “food” chains. +JMJ+
check out Dr, Dobson’s book, Bringing up Girls…he talks about this subject in the last chapter, which is where I was first enlightened…keep up the great work!!!
Thank you very much. As long as we as a society terrorize unborn babies, we will also be the victims of terrorism. The Bible says, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” In India they call it the law of karma. If you want terrorism, stop terrorizng the babies.
I’m sad to read all of these responses. Did the martyrs run? They took a stand, and some of us need to take a stand against this in Girl Scouts, instead of bailing out. I have been a registered GS for many years, and have run the Religious Program for 30 years in our area. We have to fight the fight to keep “Serve God” in our Promise. I may be fighting a losing battle, but I’m trying to raise these girls in my granddaughter’s troop with a Christian attitude of God first. I pray that I may make a difference.
So then it would be okay for me to go work inside of PP to try to “change people’s minds”, right??
Dear Abby,
As a lifelong Catholic, 15 year member and 5 year employee of the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, I was shocked by the Catholic Families article on the GS/PP connection. (Not to mention the general corruption that took place in my council, ie: discriminative hiring practices, excessive raises to upper level management, poor use of funding and the like)
After five years of service as a program manager, a new department head stepped in and rewrote my job description numerous times before demanding I reapply to become a camp director or be layed off, right before Christmas and with a wedding planned in March.
After much discussion with my fiance, we decided leaving would be best. After a month of “coming down” from the pressure, I was relieved to be finished with my work there. Though I loved the girls, the work was so intrusive – these are things families should teach their girls! – I feel blessed to be out of that posionous organization.
Good on you for bringing more about this partnership to light!
Best.
I pulled my daughter out of Daisys at our Christian school. The moms don’t seem to care about the connection between pp/gsusa. How can we get the brochure w/ the gsusa on it so they can see the truth more clearly? Thank u for the book and standing up for life!
I’m just reading this now and am so thankful that you are speaking out about it! My diocese lists GSA as a youth opportunity on their website and I know the Catholic elementary school my daughter will start at this fall has a strong troop. I plan on starting a Little Flowers group and hopefully weaning our local Catholic girls off GSA. As for AHG, I’ve never heard of it but I checked out their website. Does anyone know what their concrete values are? I hope I don’t offend anybody but I know an unfortunate number of “Christians” who have some pretty interesting and skewed views, especially on issues of sexuality, that seem to depend more on popular culture than truth. For now I’ll stick with something Catholic, but I’m glad there are alternatives to GSA! If you look on the websites mentioned in the post and comments, you’ll see that their problems run much deeper than just being affiliated with PP.