31 GOP Senators Oppose UN Children’s Rights Convention

Posted by | August 25, 2010 11:51 | Filed under: Top Stories


Republican senators fear that by supporting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United States gives up sovereignty and parents lose rights. So, they came up with their own resolution stating that the convention “undermines traditional principles” of U.S. law” and says it’s “contrary to principles of self-government and federalism.”  Thirty-one senators oppose even bringing the UN Convention up for a vote.

As Mother Jones reports, the legally-binding U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child was issued in 1989 to establish rights across country lines for citizens under the age of 18. The only members of the U.N. not to have signed on are the U.S. and Somalia, though the latter plans to ratify it this year.

American conservatives have long opposed ratification out of fear that it will impinge on their right to raise their children as they see fit. Among the complaints on the ParentalRights.org website, which is led by homeschooling advocate Michael Farris, is that under the treaty parents “would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings” to their kids.

Former UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy argues that the United States’ decision not to sign the treaty has undermined U.S. leadership when it comes to protecting children around the world.

How, she asks, “can the United States persuasively convince other governments to address sexual exploitation of children or hazardous child labor when those same governments can point to the US’ failure to ratify the Convention as evidence of US hypocrisy?”

Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2010 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

Leave a Reply