Indiana lawmaker slams 'radicalized' pro-abortion group. Yes, Girl Scouts.

An Indiana legislator is under fire from his fellow Republicans for describing the Girl Scouts of America a “radicalized organization” and urging the state House not to sign a resolution recognizing the organization’s 100th anniversary.

In a letter written to fellow lawmakers, Rep. Bob Morris (R) writes that the Girl Scouts are “quickly becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood,” and that its agenda “includes sexualizing young girls” and promoting “homosexual lifestyles.”

The letter went viral Tuesday after it was obtained and published by the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Representative Morris said his findings are based on conversations with “some well-informed constituents” and “a small amount of web-based research.” He cites a May 2009 article from World Net Daily, a conservative online news outlet, that states that Girl Scouts are not allowed to pray or sing Christmas carols.

He also criticizes an “education seminar” hosted by the organization, which asked girls to study 50 female role models. Of the fifty women listed, “only three have a briefly-mentioned religious background – all the rest are feminists, lesbians, or Communists,” he writes.

The letter pointed to the reignited culture wars playing out at varying intensities across Indiana and the nation. Indiana passed a law last May to block state-disbursed Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, which is the nation's leading provider of abortions – though a federal judge later blocked the law. Meanwhile, staunch antiabortion advocate and religious conservative Rick Santorum has surged to the front of the Republican presidential race.

In Indiana, Republicans quickly moved to distance themselves from Morris.

House Speaker Brian Bosma (R) started Tuesday’s session by handing out Thin Mints – the scouting organization’s signature cookie brand – to his fellow lawmakers and later stating from the podium he had “purchased 278 cases of Girl Scout cookies in the last 48 hours.” Speaker Bosma also asked any former Girl Scouts in the assembly hall to stand and receive applause.

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