Girl Scouts Distribute Planned Parenthood Sex Guide at United Nations Meeting

by Colleen Egan (Subscribe to Colleen Egan's posts) Mar 17th 2010 4:00PM

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The Planned Parenthood brochure encourages young people to explore their bodies.

The World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides hosted a "no-adults-welcome panel" at the United Nations this week, where Planned Parenthood was allowed to distribute a sex guide during the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women.

The "Happy, Healthy and Hot" (PDF) brochure is geared towards young people living with HIV and encourages them to explore their sexuality: "Masturbation is a great way to find out more about your body and what you find sexually stimulating." The guide also encourages young people to "Talk about or act out your fantasies. Talk dirty to them."

The brochure says national laws requiring HIV-positive people to reveal their status to their partner(s) "violate the rights of people living with HIV" and calls for advocacy to "change laws that violate your rights," C-FAM reports.

Planned Parenthood's involvement has drawn the ire of some conservative organizations. Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America tells C-FAM, "Governments and NGOs should be aware of Planned Parenthood's insidious plan to work with UN agencies and girls' organizations in order to profit from encouraging kids to be sexually active."

The Girl Scouts weren't alone in their efforts to promote sex education and HIV issues. The heads of several powerful UN agencies at CSW last week released a "UN Joint Statement" under the name of the "UN Adolescent Girls Task Force," which calls for their agencies to promote and support programs "that empower ... adolescent girls, particularly those aged 10 to 14 years," C-FAM reports, and a priority for empowerment is ensuring access to "life-skills based sexuality education, HIV prevention, and sexual and reproductive health."

The UN Population Fund and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization also recently co-sponsored controversial curriculum that included teaching children as young as five to be sexually active and training adolescents to advocate for abortion.

Related: Lesbian High-Schooler Banned From Bringing A Same-Sex Date To Prom

Comments (109)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)

Kelly 3-17-2010 @ 5:29PM

Earlier this month, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) was honored to attend and participate in the 54th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, where girls were encouraged to take action on global issues concerning women and girls. Our participation in that conference was recently the subject of numerous internet stories and blogs that are factually inaccurate and troubling. Here are the facts of that meeting:

• The Girls Only Workshop was jointly hosted by Girl Scouts of the USA, UNICEF’s Working Group on Girls, Girls Learn International and The Grail. The meeting was only open to the girls and participating sponsors.

• Only seven adults were in the room at the time of the meeting, each representing one of the sponsors of the event. No one from Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute was in the room to report on the event.

• 30 - 35 girls from across the world participated in this event. All teenagers.

• The girls received a copy of the only document they were working on titled (“The Girls’ Statement”). No other documents were given to the girls as part of this event.

• The room in question was also used to host other events over the course of the multi-day conference. Prior to our girls entering the room, we did not “sanitize’ the room to ensure that no trash or other items were left behind. We did request that those not associated with the sponsors to leave the room prior to our session.

• The Girl Scouts of the USA was not contacted by Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) regarding its initial story to discuss the facts of this event. Had they applied these basic journalistic standards, perhaps the true details of this event would have been reported.

Our Mission in Girl Scouting is to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. We continue to be proud of our girls and look forward to showing the world what our girls can do. We thank everyone for their support of Girl Scouting.

Heidi 3-17-2010 @ 5:58PM

You don't actually say that Planned Parenthood was not involved in this event. You say they were only given one "document" PDF is computer format, so that wouldn't be a "written document" anyway. The article never says that C-FAM was in attendance, nor reporting on the event, only their take on the Planned Parenthood propaganda.

You also don't deny that Planned Parenthood played any part in this event. Did they or didn't they?

I have a 16 year old in Girl Scouts, though not involved in the UN thing. I personally would throw a fit if Girl Scouts sponsored ANY event that Planned Parenthood is even remotely involved in. Kind of flies in the face of everything I always thought Girl Scouting stood for. Is that why you never really answered the questions raised by this article?

Heidi 3-17-2010 @ 6:00PM

oops. didn't realize I repeated myself in paragraph two. I sound like an idiot. Sorry.

meg 3-17-2010 @ 7:30PM

I actually think it's great if the Girl Scouts are involved with Planned Parenthood. Regardless of people's stance on abortion, young girls should be given the knowledge and education on how to protect themselves and how to practice safe sex. People are delusional when they think that kids will not have sex just because you as a parent tell them not too.

Karen 3-17-2010 @ 10:38PM

Kelly,

So if the article is inacurate, please tell us what did happen. What was on the agenda? What was discussed? What were the girls there for? What documents were presented? What documents were produced? I have a Girl Scout and I don't want to have anything to do with supporting Planned Parenthood or the "Happy, Healthy, and Hot" literature. How can I see a copy of "The Girls' Statement"?

thosbartlett 3-18-2010 @ 8:46PM

How do you help girls protect themselves when enabling or permitting them to have acccess to a brochure which takes the position that someone - i.e. a horny young man - is not morally or legally obligated to notify a sex partner that he has AIDS?

Tom

drought tolerant 3-22-2010 @ 8:14PM

Thank you Girl Scouts for allowing your members to recieve fact based materials regarding human sexuality.

As to the detractors who would deny their children this information because it is provided by Planned Parenthood, please take the time to learn the facts. No organization does more to prevent unintended pregnacies, and thus abortions, than Planned Parenthood. No organization does more to prevent sexually transmitted disease than Planned Parenthood. No organization does more screenings for cervical cancer than Planned Parenthood.

Let's stop the hollow rhetoric and make a true commitment to what should be our common goal, that of empowering young women to take responsibility for their reproductive choices, a goal that is only acheivable if we are willing to give them the tool of truth.

NH 3-19-2010 @ 11:49AM

We don't care.... there is NO EXCUSE to be promoting UN programs in the GIRL SCOUTS who are supposed to be learning about THIS country not how to be 'world government slaves'.

BAH!

Mommy 3-18-2010 @ 10:36PM

One of the last bastions where girls can get together and just be kids is being ruined by liberal women who think abortion is birth control. Why can't we just let them be kids? Let moms take care of educating them about sex. Girl Scouting was founded because there were too many progressives influencing young girls. I guess the profits from all of those cookies attracted the wrong types of leadership

Baku-chan 3-18-2010 @ 10:32PM

"violate the rights of people living with HIV"?

Yeah, so, uh, what about the rights of the people who DON'T have it? Don't we have the right to know that the person we're considering sleeping with has a lethal, incurable disease that basically will ruin your life? Yeah, no. I want to know if the person I'm with is a health risk for me.

rsbdesign 3-18-2010 @ 11:46PM

Girl Scouts is a great organization. They work to help all girls and definitely work to make the world a better place. There will always be those who won't listen to the facts and believe the lies told by certain groups who are trying to promote their own agendas at the expense of others.

Keep up the good work of empowering girls and making the world a better place.

s 3-19-2010 @ 12:30AM

WTF!?! since when did the sweet innocent little girls who sell me cookies start promoting sex education. Thats ridiculous, you know the world is going down the pipes when the girl scouts of all people are promoting sex. Stick to selling cookies and that god-awful popcorn okay.

Ann 3-19-2010 @ 3:44AM

Thanks, Kelly, for giving us an unbiased report, not a hysterical reaction.

jacqueline Mosco 4-02-2010 @ 3:14AM

I have been involved in Guiding since I was a young girl. I have been a leader for 3 years and my girls are also involved. But now, I have been enlightened about the Guides new agenda. Not only has God been removed from the promise but the issues and affiliations that WAGGGS has become a part of flies in the face of all morals, values and standards that I have ever been taught. Any Catholic, or Christian will not be able to sit idley by and watch what is happening. Its going to be a very hard thing to do, but at the end of this year, when I have fulfilled my commitment for the year, I intend on leaving Guides, pulling my girls from their units and lobbying against such ugly changes in the new WAGGGS policies. I will always remain loyal to God, the Queen, and my Country( Canada ), just as in the promise I recited and pledged as a girl.

Linda 6-05-2010 @ 8:26AM

I have a call in to Girl Scouts of America. I left a message for the person in charge of their press releases. I asked him for confirmation about the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood rumors concerning the brochure, "Healthy, Happy & Hot". He has not returned my call. This is a good chance for the Girl Scouts to set the record straight. I wonder why he hasn't called???

Glorious 3-18-2010 @ 11:16AM

Planned Parenthood is a menace to all women. Their main thrust is Abortion. Their money comes from Abortion. They bleat that they pass out Literature and supply birth control. But what they do is Abortion. They tell our kids that sex is OK, no don't WAIT, if it feels good DO IT and oops! Pregnant?? Come to us and we'll help you kill your baby, murder a part of yourself.
We have killed 50 million babies since 1963. That is heartbreaking.
Planned Parenthood has NO PLACE with Girl Scouts.

NYCBruce 3-19-2010 @ 2:22AM

OK-- let's leave YOUR daughter out of education programs, so that she can become an unwed mother (or a potential abortion statistic). Anyone that thinks that girls in their early teens are NOT already discussing sex (if not outright HAVING it) has their head firmly planted up their rectum. In a sense, you are betraying your daughters, and just HOPING that things turn out alright.

(Are we SURE that all of these e-mails weren't posted by Phyllis Schlafly, or Karl Rove??? One has to wonder...)

Jazy 3-19-2010 @ 4:48AM

If you feel that you can accurately educate your daughter about sex, then do it! Don't just assume she is going to remain sheltered and virginal until she gets married. Planned parenthood does amazing things for thousands of women, (and men!). We have spent too many decades watching teen women get pregnant and teens and young adults in general getting STD's left and right. If you aren't a complete idiot, or a bible thumper, you should realize that the only way that we have a chance at containing the spread of these diseases, and stopping unwanted pregnancy is to EDUCATE young men and women EARLY. Otherwise it is too late. Maybe if more people would allow their kids to be taught the TRUTH about sex early on in life, we wouldn't need to have the debate about the ethics behind abortion. You know why? PEOPLE WOULD KNOW HOW TO PREVENT UNWANTED PREGNANCY. What a concept. And for all of you parents who make your child feel like a bad person for thinking about sex, masturbating, or having sex, you can just stick it where the sun won't shine, (but remember make sure u don't enjoy it or you will go to hell).

Glorious 3-19-2010 @ 12:24PM

Wow, Marge, you are one disturbed person. What a strange rant! Where do you GET ANY OF that from the comment I posted??

And NYBruce, I WISH Karl Rove posted comments on here. He makes a lot more sense than you do. Lunatic Liberal Loser.