It’s cookie season, which means Girl Scouts will be trying to sell boxes of Thin Mints and Tagalongs outside of stores across the state. A pro-life group is urging its supporters to think twice about buying those cookies though, citing concerns about the organization’s ties to Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice groups.
Pro-Life Wisconsin Director Peggy Hamill says many local Girl Scout chapters do good work. However, she’s concerned that cookie money allows funding to go to the national organization and helps pay for materials that “include information and allegiances with very strong anti-life feminist organizations.”
Hamill, a former Girl Scout and troop leader, says only 15 percent of the money from cookie sales stays with the local troop, while the rest goes back to regional councils. The Girl Scouts say all profits from cookie sales remains with the troops and local councils, although Hamill contends the funds do allow other resources to be directed back to the national organization.
While it does not address Hamill’s claims directly, the national Girl Scouts organization says in a blog post from last month that it cookie sales are “occasionally a target for outside entities with clear agendas.” However, the organization says it “does not advocate one way or another with regard to what we perceive as private issues best handled by families.”
WHBY’s Rick Schuh contributed to this report.