Conservative columnist: Girl Scouts fosters prostitution because 'a girl has to make a living'

A fringe conservative columnist this week urged her readers not to purchase Girl Scout cookies because she suggested the organization had links to prostitution, abortion, gun control, and "lesbianism."

"Are you man (or woman) enough to say 'no' to a child?" Jane Chastain wrote in her Wednesday World Net Daily column. "That’s what you will be up against if you join – and you should – the boycott against Girl Scout cookies begun by Pro-Life Waco and now joined by countless pro-life and pro-family organizations."

Chastain argued that the Girl Scouts' problems began when the organization partnered with Planned Parenthood in the 1970s, and then "began showing up at gun-control rallies like the Million Mom March."

"The Girl Scouts adopted a new global agenda and began bemoaning the fact that the United States has not signed the radical U.N. feminist treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW, which would force nations to legalize abortion and prostitution," she added. "Guess a girl has to make a living!"

The truth, however, is more nuanced. Amnesty International has explained that the CEDAW Treaty supported legalizing prostitution in certain countries like China where human trafficking was rampant and regulation "would allow victimized women to come forward without fear of repercussions, to seek treatment to prevent HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, to obtain health care and education, and to combat trafficking and sex slavery."

Chastain went on to complain about the Girl Scouts' inclusive policy on sexual orientation.

"The Girl Scouts adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was as effective a the one in the military. It wasn’t long before the organization began accepting lesbian leaders and winked at lesbian activity within the ranks," she opined, adding that there were "stories of lesbianism within the paid staff."

[Photo credit: Girl Scouts (Flickr/Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio)]

(h/t: Right Wing Watch)