Indiana lawmaker stands by slam on Girl Scouts
Despite ridicule from leaders of his own party, Indiana state lawmaker Bob Morris is standing by his allegations that the Girl Scouts is a radical organization that promotes abortion and homosexuality. He’s refused to sign a proclamation honoring the group’s 100th anniversary.
The Indiana state lawmaker who called the Girls Scouts a radical organization that promotes abortion and homosexuality is sticking by his comments despite ridicule from leaders in his own party.
Rep. Bob Morris, a Republican from Fort Wayne, Ind., made the allegations in a letter he sent to Indiana House Republicans over the weekend explaining why he wouldn't support a resolution honoring the organization's 100th anniversary, according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
Morris wrote he did a "small amount of web-based research," and claims to have found that the Girl Scouts are a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood, that they allow transgender females to join "just like real girls," and that they encourage sex, the Journal Gazette reported.
"I challenge each of you to examine these matters more closely before you extend your name and your reputation to endorse a group that has been subverted in the name of liberal progressive politics and the destruction of traditional American family values," Morris wrote.
More from GlobalPost: Lawmaker says Girl Scouts are destroying 'American family values'
He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he stands by his comments and noted his daughters were leaving the Girl Scouts for an alternative group run by pro-life, conservative Christians.
“My family and I took a view and we’re sticking by it,” Morris told the AP. “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 Indiana Legislature on Tuesday, with Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma spending much of the day handing out Girl Scout cookies to lawmakers. He joked that Morris' comments led him to buy hundreds of cases of the Thin Mints, according to the AP.
"I purchased 278 cases of Girl Scout cookies in the last four hours," joked Bosma, who closed Tuesday's session by asking the former Girl Scouts in the chamber to stand up.
The Girl Scouts have flatly denied Morris’s claims, and Planned Parenthood of Indiana issued a separate statement to the AP calling Morris' charges "woefully inaccurate."