Pledge PictureThe following comes from a March 11 posting by Mary Hasson on Catholic Lane.

The Girl Scouts’ Law insists that Girl Scouts be “responsible for what I say and do.” When it comes to abortion, however, the Girl Scouts USA “says” the magic words that keep pro-life members in the fold (i.e. that Girl Scouts “does not take a position” on sexuality, birth control, or abortion).

What they “do” behind the scenes is another story.

The Girls Scouts USA’s hefty brand power—and funding—continue to fuel the pro-abortion advocacy of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. And the Girl Scouts have refused once again to take responsibility for that.

I recently exchanged emails with two GirlScoutsUSA spokespersons, Joshua Ackley and Michelle Tompkins, asking them to clarify the Girl Scouts’ “no position” stance in light of world Girl Scout leadership on the pro-abortion Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration (December, 2012). Their responses highlight the U.S. girl scouts’ corporate unwillingness to take any actions to distance themselves from the world organization’s global advocacy for youth “sexual rights” and abortion….

First, realize how radical the Bali Youth Declaration really is: it asserts “sexual rights” for youth (including 10 year-olds) on nearly every page and demands, over a dozen times, youth access to “abortion” or “reproductive rights” and services. It marginalizes families—decrying parental consent and “age of consent” restrictions in sexual and reproductive matters—and casts religious objections to LBGT lifestyles as “religious intolerance.” Not surprisingly, the pro-abortionchorus embraces the Declaration.

There’s more to know about the Bali Declaration, but what’s most relevant here are the architects behind its design.

The Declaration reflects the handiwork of the Global Youth Forum’s International Steering Committee, a group stacked with abortion providers and abortion-advocacy groups, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation  and the Youth Coalition….

In light of their officially neutral position on abortion, it should have been a no-brainer for the Girl Scouts to repudiate the radical, pro-abortion Bali Declaration. Or at least to clarify that the world group does not speak for GirlScoutsUSA when it advocates on sexual and reproductive matters, including the Bali Declaration.

GirlScoutsUSA refused to do either….

Mary Rice Hasson is a Visiting Fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.  A lawyer, writer, and thinker with substantive expertise in the areas of women, family, media, and education, Mary and her husband, Seamus Hasson, are the parents of seven children. She blogs at https://wordsfromcana.wordpress.com.

To read the entire posting on the Girl Scouts, click here.