Waco Tribune-Heral dFebruary 17, 2004 Girl Scout parents

discuss ties to groupDirector: Councilhas `decision t omake' on PlannedParenthood supportBy BRIAN GAA RTribune-Herald staff writer

TEMPLE — About 40 parentsof Girls Scouts discussed theirconcerns about the group's rela-tionship with Planned Parent-hood at a meeting in, a recre-ation center here Monday night .

While some said they felttheir children were used a spawns in a political game, oth-ers were upset that the Blueb-onnet Council's co-sponsorshipof a sex-education program wasnot made widely known .

"As parents of girls in Girl

Scouts, we should have known, "said Margo Wyatt, who was rep-resenting a Temple troop. "Weshouldn't have had to wait foryears and years, or howeverlong it's been. That's a shame . "

The Bluebonnet Council ,which includes 6,000 girls in 14counties, has come under fire ina spot airing on a local Christianradio station for sponsoring theNobody's Fool annual confer-ence, which is organized byPlanned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood offersabortion services .

Parents were told Mondaythat the group had sponsoredthe Nobody's Fool program foryears, though it hadn't been

See SCOUTS, Page 5 A

SCOUTSMost at meetingagainst affiliation■ From Page 1 Awidely publicized. About twodozen other organizations, in-cluding the Waco Tribune-Herald, also have co-sponsoredthe sex-education program .

In the radio spot, Baylor pro-fessor John Pisciotta urged lis-teners to abstain from buyin gGirl Scout cookies. Pisciotta andother anti-abortion activistshave objected to the subjectstaught at the program, and be -cause the Bluebonnet Councilhonored Planned ParenthoodExecutive Director Pam Small -wood as a "Woman of Distinc-tion" last spring .

When asked Monday nightwhy the Bluebonnet Council ofGirl Scouts has co-sponsored th eevent, Beth Vivio, the group' sexecutive director, called theprogram an important educa-tional event .

But Vivio added that thecouncil's board is aware ofmembers' concerns .

"We now have a decision tomake about whether we wil lcontinue as a sponsor of No-body's Fool," Vivio said .

The board will take up the is-sue at a regularly scheduledmeeting March 25, she said . Buta special called meeting could

take place earlier, she added .By an informal show of

hands, most of the parents gath -ered indicated that they wer eagainst any affiliation withPlanned Parenthood.

But many also were upset byPisciotta's called boycott of Gir lScout cookies.

Donna McAllister, a troopleader from Temple, said shewas upset that the children werebeing used as "pawns . "

"The girls have nothing to dowith the politics of whether o rnot you're for abortion," shesaid .

`I am not for that 'Cynthia Baylor, who has a

daughter in the Brownies divi-sion of Girl Scouts, said sh ewon't sell cookies this year .

"Planned Parenthood is forcontraception and abortion, andI am not for that and I don't wan tmy daughter to be a part ofthat," she said.

Denise Schwartz, a troopleader from Temple, said theproceeds from the sales don't

benefit any organization otherthan Girl Scouts .

"That money does not go toPlanned Parenthood, so all tha thoopla about not buying cookiesis only hurting those girls, "Schwartz said .

Baylor and her husband, Jeff,who are Catholic, say they can'tsupport the council if it does notsever ties with Planned Parent -hood .

In a Monday e-mail to are aCatholic churches, Bishop Gre -gory Aymond of the Austin Dio-cese wrote that the church is in-vestigating the issue, but Catho-lics in the meantime shoul dcontinue to support the Gir lScouts and their cookie sales .

"It is our understanding thatthe money from sales is used forlocal troop camping and otherprograms and not for Planne dParenthood or programs associ -ated with it," Aymond wrote ."We need more information ,and we should not overreact. "

Brian Gaar can be reached a tbgaar@wa'cotrib .com or a t757-5741 .