Bob Morris, Indiana Lawmaker, Stands By Comment That Girl Scouts Promote Abortions, Homosexuality

INDIANAPOLIS -- Undaunted by ridicule from the leader of his own party, an Indiana lawmaker is standing by his allegations that the Girl Scouts is a radical organization that promotes abortions and homosexuality.

The scouts and Planned Parenthood have dismissed Rep. Bob Morris' comments as absurd, as did Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma. But Morris, a Republican, told The Associated Press his critics need to do more research into the 100-year-old scouting organization.

"My family and I took a view and we're sticking by it," Morris said Tuesday, adding that his daughters were joining an alternative group for young girls run by conservative Christians. "My girls are no longer Girl Scouts. They're now going to join American Heritage Girls."

Morris' comments were the butt of jokes inside the House on Tuesday, with Bosma spending much of the day handing out Thin Mints to lawmakers. He joked that Morris' comments led him to buy hundreds of cases of the famous Girl Scout cookies.

"I purchased 278 cases of Girl Scout cookies in the last four hours," said a clearly sarcastic Bosma, who closed Tuesday's session by asking the former Girl Scouts in the chamber to stand up.

Morris' comments about the Girl Scouts came in a letter he sent to House Republicans on Saturday that said he had conducted some research on the Internet and discovered that the scouts are a "tactical arm" of Planned Parenthood.

The Girl Scouts flatly denied Morris' accusations, and Planned Parenthood of Indiana issued a separate statement calling Morris' charges "woefully inaccurate."

"On the national level, inflammatory and generally inaccurate claims about a partnership between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood have been promoted primarily by anti-choice lawmakers seeking to place pressure on organizations to disassociate or distance themselves from Planned Parenthood," Betty Cockrum, the chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, said in a statement.

Morris, in his letter to lawmakers, said some Christian conservatives who share his concerns have pulled their children out of Girl Scouts. He also pointed to a Colorado Girl Scout troop's acceptance of a transgender child last month as another reason to leave the group.

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Comments

[tr1elgae98]

02:37 PM on 05/14/2012

Indiana Representative Bob Morris was dead on with his accusations about the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood; which is the largest provider of abortions in the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZKiQub0ZnA

[Annette Rf]

10:20 AM on 04/29/2012

Most of my closest friends are men, and of the women I do, practically all are conservative (my male friends tend to be centrists for the most part.) To assume women are naturally liberal and men are naturally conservative is a form of sexism.

[krad]

05:33 PM on 03/06/2012

I run a girl scout troop and after this story was orginally published, I had customers coming up to give us money at our cookie booth in response to this "lawmaker's" comments. One lady asked me if I read the article and than she handed me ten bucks! Didn't even buy cookies! Thanks for boosting our profits, Rep Morris!

[CateManhattan]

01:14 AM on 03/01/2012

I sure feel sorry for the women living in that household.

[Christian Howell]

05:04 PM on 02/27/2012

I want to start
NAMALA

North American Association of Man-Amazon Love.

You've seen them 5'9", 130 lbs. 16 years old. Everything else is kind of gay.

[quotidianus]

06:16 AM on 02/27/2012

okay, i'll confess to once-upon-a-time disliking the girl scouts and their cookie-pushing ways. but after allowing a transgendered into a troupe in colorado, i started taking another look. my freezer now contains girl scout cookies and i fully support them. our girls and young women need all the support they can get, especially in the current climate.

and the girl scout cookies taste better than ever!

[Annette Rf]

10:22 AM on 04/29/2012

My girls never joined the GSA because we knew the feminists took them over ages ago...recent events only serve to prove it. Besides, their cookies are very unhealthy anyway, so....no loss.

[Nictusempra]

03:33 PM on 07/05/2012

Not... the FEMINISTS. They might teach your girls that they deserve equal treatment to men, and god knows we cannot have that.

[ChiTownGirl]

08:14 PM on 02/26/2012

Representative Morris: I just ate a plateful of the Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary Lemon Savannah Smiles Cookie before entering this comment ...

And loved them all!

[CateManhattan]

01:16 AM on 03/01/2012

Watch out! He's sure you're gay now!!

[ChiTownGirl]

07:31 AM on 03/01/2012

Yeah, bur he's a Hoosier And I'm still. a ChiTown city girl. Got that over him!

[Karelle Scharff]

09:34 PM on 02/24/2012

It's important to remember: the right-wing is doubling down on the anti-woman rhetoric not because they give a rat's patootie about fetuses or birth control or gays, in and of themselves, but because they want to enslave women again. They pine for the days when women cooked and cleaned and popped out baby after baby, sometimes until they died of it, and didn't require an education, because they would never be allowed by their husbands to work.
The Dominionists especially want a return to Biblical law - stoning of adulteresses (but not adulterers), and those who engage in sex outside of marriage generally - NO different from the Taliban.
By and large, "witch" persecution through the centuries has been about the town "fathers" putting down uppity women by labeling and framing them as witches and taking care of that problem by drowning or burning them.
This batch of lunatics is no different. They are scared of women who might seem better than them. They are scared of their own shadow, because they know how deeply inadequate they really are.

[Annette Rf]

10:08 PM on 02/25/2012

I only know 3 conservatives who are men, so since most conservatives I know (myself included) are women, how is it that women want to 'enslave' women??

You SO have the conservative movement stereotyped in your mind...and liberals say conservatives are prejudiced!

[Christian Howell]

05:05 PM on 02/27/2012

Ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? You may as well ask why Rihanna hasn't had enough.

[jujjyfruit]

03:13 PM on 03/01/2012

Lady, if you are a woman and consider yourself a "conservative Republican", then you are either a Stepford wife or have an IQ in the vicinity of a clam.

[danusgram]

07:58 PM on 02/24/2012

BIGOT!

[Katie Wray]

03:12 PM on 02/24/2012

mr. morris must not have much faith in he and his wife's parenting abilities, their church's preaching abilities or his daughter's minds if he thinks GSA will "indoctrinate" them with liberal ideals by meeting once a week to do art n crafts and learn how to build a fire.

[mmsuki]

02:29 PM on 02/24/2012

I'm wondering how Bob Morris' parents raised him, that he would turn out to be such a fool.

[Lsharp03]

10:52 AM on 02/24/2012

Hmmm, I've never had an abortion and am hetero, yet I was a Girl Scout.

I must have missed an important meeting.

[Thomas Platt]

11:45 AM on 02/24/2012

You too? No-one ever tells me when they decide to hold the meetings about the Gay Agenda.

[CalEsq]

08:11 PM on 02/25/2012

I'm currently a leader and I can't find lesson plan either. My Scouts will be soooooo disappointed!

[Rodrockler]

08:41 AM on 02/24/2012

Anyone ever notice that it is ........----------- MEN --------...........

Who are all pushing the efforts against women, their reproductive system, contraception, abortion and health care?

I look at it this way: God created man then created a woman. God gave woman dominion over reproduction by installing it in HER body.
God gave man the ability to fertilize a woman but as a check and balance God gave women the ability to think for themselves and a pair of legs to shut the way if the man is not acceptable.

A man has no right to make any laws or regulations upon what was given by God to a woman!

[Annette Rf]

10:06 PM on 02/25/2012

Most pro-life activists are WOMEN, myself included.

55% of WOMEN want restrictions on abortion.

I am a WOMAN, and I DO NOT support the leftist agenda of feminism. How DARE they claim to represent me!

[Rodrockler]

09:20 AM on 02/26/2012

"Most" is arbitrary.

What ever restrictions should be SELF IMPOSED! Not imposed by others upon those who make their own decisions!

GET IT?

You don't want it? Fine! don't use it. But don't YOU dare impose yourself upon others. PERIOD!

YOU do not do anything for the woman or the fetus once it is born.
You cannot impose your way and then ABSOLVE yourself of any further responsibility for the consequences that both the mother and that baby may face.

You cannot account for all the variables in your restrictions so it should be a personal choice between the woman and HER doctor. NOT YOU!

[mimseyme]

10:01 PM on 04/26/2012

They don't represent you, they respresent the rest. That's good enough for me.

[ChiTownGirl]

08:15 PM on 02/26/2012

***Clapping***

[fatuglynerd]

05:35 PM on 02/23/2012

Chr ist ians ... making Ch rist look bad for over 2k years!

[quixmar]

09:37 PM on 02/23/2012

A guy without a job (by his own choice) bashing others. Now there's a novelty.

[lebari]

08:57 AM on 02/24/2012

It's his choice. Don't go judging if you call yourself a Christian. It's in the Bible :)

[fatuglynerd]

01:46 PM on 02/24/2012

Who doesn't have a job? Lol. Where'd you pull that one out of, honey?

[mericart]

05:17 PM on 02/23/2012

I will probably buy more girl scout cookies just to spite the republicans.

[Your name here]

08:29 PM on 02/23/2012

Send a small donation to Girlscouts.com. Make your donation in honor of Rep. Bob Morris, 6344 E.State Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46815. They will then notify Rep. Morris that $$ has been donated in his name to the GSA.

[UrbanNana]

01:49 PM on 02/24/2012

Brilliant Idea. I'm on it.

[quixmar]

09:38 PM on 02/23/2012

I'm sure the people of Guatemala where the cookies are baked will thank you.

[golions]

11:22 PM on 02/23/2012

Still at it quixmar? The label on my Thin Mints says "Little Brownie Bakers, L.L.C. Louisville Kentucky 40216 Made in U.S.A."

http://littlebrowniebakers.com/

Of course, that's probably just part of the grand conspiracy with the socialist Muppets, indoctrinating Dr. Seuss movies, and homosexual Teletubbies. I'm beginning to see your point... ;)

[Jackie Phillips]

05:27 PM on 02/24/2012

after 20 yrs in gsa cookies are made by little brownie bakers out of ohio