Morris apologizes, stands by Girl Scout decision [View all]

[salvorhardin]

Remember Bob Morris, the Indiana state Representative who called Girl Scouts a "tactical arm of Planned Parenthood?" Yeah, that arse. He finally issued a not-pology today.

Days after his opposition to a resolution honoring the Girl Scouts went viral, Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne, apologized for his remarks but stood by his decision not to sign the resolution.

In a written statement, Morris said he was able to reflect on his previous letter, which called the Girl Scouts a “radicalized organization” that supports abortion and promotes “homosexual lifestyles.”

“I realize now that my words were emotional, reactionary and inflammatory,” he wrote on Thursday. “For that I sincerely apologize … I certainly should not have painted the entire Girl Scouts organization with such a wide brush.”

...

The Girl Scouts of USA denied having any relationship with Planned Parenthood. Morris in his Thursday statement cited a March 5, 2004 interview with Kathy Cloninger, Girl Scouts CEO, where she said the scouts organization partners with Planned Parenthood with regard to sex education.

“If the Girl Scouts USA now denies the statement of its CEO, I challenge the organization to do so publicly so that individuals are not confused as to the organization’s ties to Planned Parenthood,” he said.

Link: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120223/LOCAL/120229767

He must mean this interview:

It's referring to this incident in Crawford, TX in 2004 where the *local* GS org gave an award to a woman who happened to be a local PP exec, and they also endorsed (whatever that means) a local PP sex-ed program. Hardly qualifies Girl Scouts USA as a "tactical arm of Planned Parenthood" to me, but apparently Bob Morris can read between the lines better than I can.

Here's a USA Today story about that incident:

"Parents were upset to learn that the local Girl Scout organization had given a "woman of distinction award" last year to a Planned Parenthood executive. And they were disturbed to find out that the Girl Scout organization has been giving its endorsement for years to a Planned Parenthood sex-ed program in which girls and boys are given literature on homosexuality, masturbation and condoms."
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-03-03-cookie-boycott_x.htm