Dayton Hudson Restores Planned Parenthood Gift

The Dayton Hudson Foundation on Thursday reversed an earlier decision and approved an $18,000 grant for a community education program of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota.

Planned Parenthood will allocate the foundation’s contribution to a restricted public education fund and, at Dayton Hudson’s request, will add a separate line item sub-category for the program in its audit, the foundation said at a news conference.

Cynthia Mayeda, Dayton Hudson Foundation chair, said neither the Dayton Hudson Corp. nor its foundation is taking a position on abortion rights with Thursday’s decision.

“We have not taken and will not take a position on abortion,” she said in a statement. “Our contributions have never been nor will they be used to finance abortion services. We are satisfied that we can make this grant without taking a position on this issue.”

The foundation decided last month to end 22 years of financial support of Planned Parenthood for educational programs intended to prevent teen-age pregnancy. A Dayton Hudson spokeswoman said then that the move was an attempt to distance the foundation from the abortion issue.

But about two weeks ago, Dayton said it would reconsider the decision.

The earlier developments prompted protests by pro-choice groups. Some customers tore up their credit cards and protested outside a Dayton Hudson outlet in Edina. Women’s groups announced plans to boycott Dayton’s, Target and other stores owned by the Minneapolis-based retailer during the Christmas season if the foundation did not restore funding.

The $18,000 grant is the same amount that the foundation contributed last year.