Friday, October 21, 2005
Fundie Groups Fine With Miers' Girls, Inc Work
(Link) The American Family Association still considers Girls, Inc a "pro-abortion, pro-lesbian advocacy group", but doesn't fault Harriet Miers for having worked with the Dallas chapter. Just another case of "love the sinner, hate the social progress they attempt to spread."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
JIC Post:
By DONNA CASSATA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Conservatives who oppose a youth organization that supports abortion rights and acceptance of lesbians said Friday that Harriet Miers' service with the Dallas chapter in 1987 had no bearing on her Supreme Court nomination.
Miers chaired the advisory committee of Girls, Inc., a non-profit organization dating to 1864 that serves about 800,000 girls a year, many from low-income families, according to the questionnaire she submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Miers received an award for her work with the local chapter and the Dallas Bar Association.
One of the more active conservative groups, the Mississippi-based American Family Association, recently launched a campaign indirectly targeting Girls Inc., which it called a "pro-abortion, pro-lesbian advocacy group."
Girls, Inc., on its Web site, has defended its mission and dismissed the "false, inflammatory statements from people who are pursuing a narrow political agenda."
Questioned about Miers' past involvement with the group, Tim Wildmon, president of the AFA, said it was not an issue.
"That's been so long ago," Wildmon said in a telephone interview. "I don't think that factors in with her current situation. It was 18 years ago, people change, organizations change."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Miers' participation with Girls, Inc., was "based on the groups' encouragement of young girls and women in their educational pursuits."
The American Family Association has neither endorsed nor opposed Miers' nomination.
"We're still in a wait-and-see mode," Wildmon said in anticipation of confirmation hearings next month. "We're trying to do more homework on Ms. Miers."
Several conservatives have expressed their opposition to President Bush's choice of Miers for the high court, arguing that she lacks the necessary judicial qualifications and contending that Bush could have chosen from a pool of proven conservative jurists.
In 1989, Miers backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion in most cases, according to documents released this week. Miers' supporters hoped that material would assuage conservatives who have questioned Bush's selection.
The American Family Association is urging its 2.2 million members to demand that American Girl, maker of popular dolls and children's books, stop its support for Girls, Inc. Proceeds from the sale of American Girl wristbands are helping support educational and empowerment programs of Girls, Inc.
The AFA and the Pro-Life Action League, a Chicago-based anti-abortion group, are urging their supporters to contact American Girl and express opposition to its contributions to Girls, Inc.
In the advocacy section on its Web page, Girls, Inc., backs Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, favors a girl's right to have access to contraceptives and pledges support for girls dealing with questions about sexual orientation.
American Girl said in a recent statement that its altruistic efforts have been misconstrued.
Post a Comment