Important Update: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

From Michael Farris-

TODAY, Monday, November 26, at 4:30 p.m., Senator Mike Lee, Rick Santorum, and I will hold a press conference concerning our efforts to stop US ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Obama Administration is going to make a concerted effort to get this treaty ratified during the lame duck session of Congress—probably before December 4.

The Obama Administration’s claim is that this treaty will not change the law of the United States but will only ensure that when disabled Americans travel abroad that they will enjoy the same handicapped access they have here. This is double nonsense.

First, ratified treaties are a part of the highest law of the land. (Read Article VI of the Constitution). Treaties override all state laws—and give Congress new and expanded jurisdiction when the treaties touch on matters that used to be within the control of the states.

Education laws—including homeschooling laws—are state laws. The treaty would override state laws on special needs issues concerning home schooling and would transfer all jurisdiction on this subject from the State to the federal government. And then the federal government would, in turn, be responsible to ensure that our law on this subject conforms to the standards of the UN.
That is how treaties work (remember that I have an LLM in Public International Law from the University of London).

The UN CRPD gives the government the power and the duty to make best interest of the child determinations for the education of every child with disabilities or special needs. New Zealand (which has ratified the UN CRPD) has a feature in its home education law which perfectly reflects the standard of this treaty. Its law states that the government has the ability to deny homeschooling in every case where the officials, in their discretion, believe that it would be in the child’s best interest to be in the public school’s special education program.

If you want to give up your rights to make your own decisions for your child, then support this treaty. But if you, the parent, believe that you should make the decision as to what is best for your child then you need to strongly oppose this treaty and come help us stop it.

The second argument is even more fallacious. The US ratification of this treaty will have absolutely no effect on handicapped access for Americans when they travel abroad.

I was recently in Berlin, Germany. There was no proper handicapped access for any bathroom in any restaurant that I visited—including the Burger King near a major tourist center. US ratification of this treaty won’t force Burger King to build more wheelchair ramps. Germany has already ratified this treaty and Burger King sees no need to build ramps. Why in the world would anyone think that German restaurants would comply with this treaty because the US government has ratified the treaty, when Germany’s ratification has produced no such effect?

Moreover, the idea that Americans will gain access when they are traveling but only if we ratify this treaty is nonsense. Would Burger King in Berlin say to an American in a wheelchair: “Sorry, your country hasn’t ratified this treaty so you can’t use our ramps”? Of course not.

Americans should make the law for America. And parents, not government, should make education decisions for children.
Both of these principles are under attack in this treaty. If you believe either or both of these principles please do two things:
1. Pass this message on to as many people as possible.
2. Call both of your US Senators TODAY and urge them to defeat the UN CRPD.