The Girl Scouts of the USA has sent threatening letters to at least two small pro-life groups that have been critical of Girl Scout collaborations with Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups.
Since the beginning of the Girl Scout cookie boycott, exclusively announced at Breitbart News late last month, LifeNews has extensively reported on the connection between Planned Parenthood and the Girl Scouts.
LifeNews editor Steve Ertelt announced Monday that he had received a letter threatening legal action. In it, Girl Scout executive Brian Crawford complained about “articles that outline alleged ties to Planned Parenthood” and that “GSUSA has an obligation to protect the Girl Scout name.” Crawford insisted, “Girl Scouts of the USA does not have a partnership or any relationship with Planned Parenthood and does not intend to initiate one.” He demanded that LifeNews cease using the Girl Scout logo.
Ertelt’s is not the only group threatened by the Girl Scouts in this important cookie-selling season.
Ann Saladin, a St. Louis house-wife, mother, and former Girl Scout leader, runs a tiny website called MyGirlScoutCouncil.com, which is ranked 194,756th out of all U.S. websites by Alexa.com. She also received such a letter, telling her that she cannot use the Girl Scout logo. The letter from Brian Crawford said:
We demand that your organization immediately cease using the Girl Scouts® logo on your flyers. We would appreciate receiving your assurances by return mail, email, or fax on or before February 7, 2014 that you will comply with our demand.
Some have criticized the various small groups calling for a boycott of Girl Scout cookies by characterizing them as bullying little girls. The groups’ answer is that the Girl Scouts have an annual revenue of close to $1 billion dollars and an annual budget of more than $100 million. The groups protesting the Girl Scouts’ alleged connection to Planned Parenthood have minuscule budgets or no budgets at all.
Steve Ertelt told Breitbart News:
The Girl Scouts are clearly threatened by LifeNews’ reporting on their multiple links to Planned Parenthood, their hiring of abortion activists to key positions, and their promotion of abortion advocates like Wendy Davis. Their letter is a not-so-veiled intimidation tactic designed to get LifeNews to stop our reporting and to get pro-life groups to stop boycotting them.
Under advice of counsel, Ann Saladin agreed to the Girl Scouts’ demand and has taken down the logo. Steve Ertelt is expected to give the Girl Scouts an answer to the threatening letter on Tuesday.
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