U.N. Disability Treaty Targets Homeschooling

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is a treaty that many believe “surrenders U.S. sovereignty to unelected UN bureaucrats and will threaten parental control over children with disabilities.”

According to The Hill, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to hold the markup for the treaty on Thursday, but after hearing these legitimate complaints, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint (R) delayed consideration of the treaty for another week.

“Parts of this treaty deals with abortion and the rights of children, issues that should be addressed by states, local governments and American parents not international bureaucrats,” DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton told The Hill. “Senator DeMint strongly opposes this treaty, as the United States is already the world leader in addressing the needs of the disabled and it’s foolish to think Americans need to sign away our sovereignty to exert our influence around the world.”

The Hill reports the the treaty has bipartisan support in the Senate, with Republicans like Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and John McCain (R-AZ) in support along with Democrats like Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). They argue that the treaty would extend protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act abroad. 

But opponents of the treaty believe it is not benign and directly undermines U.S. sovereignty. 

“If the Senate ratifies this treaty, it would be the first time ever that the U.S. has ratified a treaty that obligates us to recognize economic, social, and cultural entitlements as rights under domestic law,” The Home School Legal Defense Association wrote.

Santorum — and his wife Karen — expressed similar concerns about how the treaty would empower unelected international bureaucrats. 

“The [UN treaty] would usurp the rights and powers of parents here in the United States to do what is best for their special needs child by placing the law of the UN above the rights of the parents,” Rick and Karen Santorum said in a statement. “It is the job of our elected representatives to preserve these rights, not hand them off to unaccountable international bureaucrats.”