Girl Scout cookie season is officially underway. A post that’s been shared more than 400 times on Facebook claims that the Girl Scouts of the USA “supports Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion politicians” and suggests people not buy the organization’s cookies.
“I used to get thin mint cookies for my birthday every year — not any more!” the post shared on Feb. 4 reads. The photo in the post is attributed to Pro-Life Action League and includes a Trefoils cookie with a Planned Parenthood logo instead of the Girl Scouts logo.
THE QUESTION
Does Girl Scouts of the USA support Planned Parenthood?
THE SOURCES
- Girl Scouts of the USA
- Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas
- Tax Form 990 from 2017 and 2019 shared on Girl Scouts’ website
THE ANSWER
No, Girl Scouts of the USA does not support Planned Parenthood.
WHAT WE FOUND
Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) says on its website that it “does not have a relationship or partnership with Planned Parenthood.” Additionally, GSUSA “does not take a position or develop materials” on the issues of human sexuality, birth control and abortion.
On its website, Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas added that the Girl Scouts “have never received financial support from or contributed to” Planned Parenthood.
This was also the organization’s stance in March 2004, when the Associated Press reported that GSUSA “takes no position on sex education or abortion” and did not have a relationship with Planned Parenthood.
Facebook has also marked the Feb. 4 post claiming that the Girl Scouts support Planned Parenthood as “false information,” based on other fact-checks from multiple organizations.
Two federal tax forms from 2017 and 2019, shared on the Girl Scouts’ website, do not show any financial contributions to Planned Parenthood.
SOURCE OF MISINFORMATION
Claims about GSUSA’s support of Planned Parenthood have been circulating since the early 2000s.
The Associated Press report from 2004 states that people began boycotting Girl Scout cookies because the Bluebonnet Girl Scout Council, which was headquartered in Waco, Texas, bestowed its “Woman of Distinction” honor on a Planned Parenthood executive. The boycott also stemmed from the Girl Scouts giving its endorsement to a Planned Parenthood sex education program.
The council announced it would not be affiliated with Planned Parenthood sex education programs as a result of the controversy, according to the Associated Press.
The Catholic News Agency also reported in 2010 that the Girl Scouts hosted a panel at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women where “Planned Parenthood was allowed to distribute sexually explicit material to the young girls.”
GSUSA also responded to this claim on its website, saying that its participation in the conference was the subject of “numerous Internet stories and blogs that were factually inaccurate and troubling.”
“Girl Scouts had no knowledge of a Planned Parenthood brochure and played no role in distributing it,” the organization’s website says.
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