It’s hard to walk past a table of Girl Scout cookies, with the girls standing there looking plaintively at you hoping to make a sale. The cookies are not expensive. They’re really good. You may have been a scout yourself, or had a relative who went through the same experience years ago. You feel guilty if you walk by and don’t buy a box.

Don’t feel guilty. Some of that money you give to those polite, sweet girls looking at you pleadingly is going where you really don’t want it to go.

The Evidence

Where is the money going? It’s not all going for crafts and camping trips, reports the watchdog group My Girl Scout Council. Only 10 to 20 percent of the proceeds go to the local Girl Scout troop. Around 65 to 75 percent goes to the local council.

The national organization, Girl Scouts USA, collects a royalty for every box sold. This translates into millions of dollars for GSUSA. Here’s a sneaky part: Even donations directed to a Girl Scout troop must be used to buy boxes of cookies to give away to soldiers or others. This means the national organization gets its royalty even from people who wanted all their gift to support the local troop.

What does that money help pay for? You may be surprised. The Girl Scouts promote radical left wing politicians and ideology, including the promotion of abortion. 

GSUSA has a long and cozy relationship with pro-abortion groups and individuals. It participated in the 2018 Teen Vogue summit, which focused on reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ rights. Participants included Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood CEO. Participants in a branch event included Sharmin Hossain, manager of Youth Organizing for Planned Parenthood, described by the Teen Vogue site as “a queer Muslim feminist organizer and rabble rouser.”

GSUSA encourages participation in the Women’s March. The march includes “access to safe, legal, affordable abortion” among its unifying principles. According to My Girl Scout Council, the Girl Scouts’ curriculum includes pro-abortion role models such as Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Geraldine Ferraro, and Hillary Clinton. Groups include Amnesty Intl., Population Council, ACLU, and NOW. They celebrated newly elected, self-described socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

More Evidence

GSUSA isn’t just allies with Planned Parenthood. It is a member of abortion rights advocacy groups. These include the Coalition for Adolescent Girls. CAG members include pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood and the Bill and Melinda Gates-funded Women Deliver. That group focuses on access to birth control and abortion.

Breitbart notes that GSUSA highlighted Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s swing vote on Roe v. Wade. Not too long ago, GSUSA tweeted “My body, my choice, my rights.”

GSUSA is the largest member organization of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), which aggressively promotes abortion and promiscuous sex. GSUSA pays about $1.5 million each year to WAGGGS. WAGGGS aggressively promotes sexual and reproductive rights.

Local Troops

Some local troops and councils get involved in such things on their own. They are permitted to partner with Planned Parenthood. For example, according to My Girl Scout Council, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York participated along with Planned Parenthood in a protest against President Trump.

Girl Scout troops across the country opened for Michelle Obama’s Becoming book tour. The Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona granted Meghna Gopalan the Gold Award last November, the Girl Scout’s highest honor, for her pro-abortion work. It was a a “reproductive health justice” project to “educate people about and destigmatize access to women’s healthcare.”

In 2004, former Girl Scouts USA CEO Kathy Cloninger confirmed partnerships between Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood. “We partner with many organizations,” Cloninger said. “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.”

The Girl Scouts try to hide these associations by not taking “official” positions. A FAQ on its website says that the organization has no relationship with Planned Parenthood and doesn’t take a position on sexuality, birth control or abortion. It’s mincing words with the former, since local chapters partner with Planned Parenthood.

‘Official’ Positions Irrelevant

Christy Volanski, co-editor of My Girl Scout Council, says it doesn’t make much of a difference that the Girl Scouts isn’t directly funding Planned Parenthood. She told Breitbart, “The fact that Girl Scouts exposes girls to Planned Parenthood through their organization is much more insidious than a financial relationship.”

There are better alternatives to the Girl Scouts. American Heritage Girls is a Christ-centered character and leadership development program for girls 5 to 18 years of age. They partner with Trail Life USA, a fast-growing alternative to the Boy Scouts. Maybe AHG can start selling cookies. That way people will have a polite response when turning down the Girl Scouts’ pleas.

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC. Send tips to rachel.alexander@stream.flywheelstaging.com.