Last week, Parentalrights.org - along with hundreds of concerned parents - swamped the phone lines at the office of UN Ambassador Susan Rice, eventually crashing the answering machines and taking down all communication. At the same time hundreds of calls bombarded the White House comment line, and when I called I wasn’t even able to get through to an answering machine, let alone a secretary.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified in 193 countries. The fact is that only two countries have not embraced the convention - The U.S. and Somalia. The latter is without a functioning government, so it just hasn’t had the power to adopt the CRC. The United States, however, hasn’t been able to successfully rarify the convention, although we did pass parts of it like the optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography and the involvement of children in armed conflict.
I talked with my uncle about the CRC and he was only concerned about his children. “I just want what is best for my kids, if this gives them healthcare I’m all for it,” he says. The truth is that the Convention doesn’t look too bad on the top, but underneath it’s shocking.
What the Convention Means
Childrightscampaign.org makes the CRC sound like something the United States desperately needs.
“The U.S. has some of the best programs and laws in the world to protect our children, but too many of them continue to face considerable hardships, including insufficient health care, inadequate educational opportunities, and high rates of poverty, abuse, hunger, infant mortality, incarceration, teen pregnancy, homicide, suicide, and firearm-related deaths.
In the U.S., the CRC would establish a useful framework from which our leaders could create cost- effective and comprehensive policies and programs that address the specific needs of children and their families. By adhering to the reporting requirements contained in the CRC, our leaders would be compelled to reassess the state of children’s well-being in the U.S. and undertake crucial efforts to improve their lives.
U.S. ratification would enhance our role as an international leader in human rights. With our country’s endorsement of the CRC, the world would stand united in its universally shared goal to protect and promote children’s best interests. As a party to the Convention, the U.S. would be eligible to participate in the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the international body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the CRC). As a member of this Committee, the U.S. could take an active role in encouraging further progress in countries which have already ratified the Convention.”
However, take a look at what the CRC supports.
-A murderer aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
-Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
-The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
-A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
- Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable discipline to their children.
-Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
- Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education would be out of compliance with the CRC.
-Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent, which would overrule state laws on parental notification of abortion.
-According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
If that sounds bad, the treaty creates binding rules of law. It would overrule any laws in the United States but would still impact American families, courts and policy-makers! It would basically overwrite our sovereignty as a nation and place us under the control of the United Nations.
ParentalRights.Org is fighting against the CRC and I would highly recommend joining their mailing list to keep updated in how you can help fight the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
