Catholic parish bans Girl Scout troops over ties to Planned Parenthood

by Patrick B. Craine

CHANTILLY, Virginia, January 25, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic parish in Virginia has banned local Girl Scout troops from parish facilities and the adjacent school over the international body’s ties to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

St. Timothy Catholic Parish in Chantilly says Girl Scouts will not be permitted to meet or wear uniforms on church property, including at St. Timothy School, which covers preschool to grade 8.

The Girl Scouts have been under growing pressure as evidence mounts of their ties with Planned Parenthood, the world’s largest abortion provider.

In June, Bishop James Conley of Denver warned that participation in the Girl Scouts risks opening young women to the pro-abortion agenda because of the organization’s approach to sexuality and “reproductive freedom”.

St. Timothy’s Catholic Parish directed questions to the Diocese of Arlington, which said parishes have oversight over the use of their facilities.

“Every pastor in the diocese has the responsibility to determine how best to use their parish facilities, consider the requests of outside groups, and reconcile such requests with the needs and mission of their parish community,” said Mike Donohue, spokesman for the Diocese of Arlington.

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has disputed claims that it has ties to Planned Parenthood, but the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) has taken an aggressive stand in favour of “safe” abortions, as can be gleaned from a search of their website.

In 2010, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) reported that WAGGGS had girls participate in a United Nations workshop that distributed the controversial Planned Parenthood sex education pamphlet “Happy, Healthy, and Hot”, which instructs young girls not to think of sex as “just about vaginal or anal intercourse.”  WAGGGS disputed the report at the time, however.

In 2004 GSUSA’s then-CEO Kathy Cloninger told NBC’s Today show, “We partner with many organizations.  We have relationships with our church communities, with YWCAs, and with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country, to bring information-based sex education programs to girls.”

In a 2004 survey by STOPP International, around 25% of GSUSA councils who responded said they partnered with Planned Parenthood in some way. Sixty-five out of the country’s 249 councils responded to the survey.