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Parental rights amendment awaits our aid

By Cal Beisner

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a major threat to parents’ freedom to raise their children as they believe best — to teach them their religious faith, to discipline them in a Biblical manner, to manage their health care, and much more. Support for a Parental Rights Amendment to the federal constitution is an important way to stop this threat.

Many leaders in the new Administration and Congress support the UNCRC, including Hillary Clinton (nominated for Secretary of State) and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Godly parents need to unite to protect our rights from this attack, and <www.ParentalRights.org> offers an important way we can help prevent adoption of the UNCRC by the federal government.

10 things you need to know about the structure of the CRC

• It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law. It is no mere statement of altruism.
• Its effect would be binding on American families, courts, and policy-makers.
• Children of other nations would not be impacted in any direct way by our ratification.
• The CRC would automatically override almost all American laws on children and families because of our supremacy clause.
• The CRC has some elements that are self-executing, while others would require implementing legislation. Federal courts would have the power to determine which provisions were self-executing.
• The courts would have the power to directly enforce the provisions that are self-executing.
• Congress would have the power to directly legislate on all subjects necessary to comply with the treaty. This would constitute the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.
• A committee of 18 experts from other nations, sitting in Geneva, has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty which are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. This effectively transfers ultimate authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.
• Under international law, a treaty overrides even our Constitution.
• Reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.

10 things you need to know about the substance of the CRC

• Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
• A murderer aged 17 years, 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.
• According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
• Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
• Teaching children about Christianity in schools has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
• Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to 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.

An important step toward preventing adoption of the UNCRC is to pass the Parental Rights Amendment to the federal constitution being prepared for introduction in Congress.

Amendment’s Proposed Text

Section 1

The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right.

Section 2

Neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.

Section 3

No treaty nor any source of international law may be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

Action Step

Please go to https://www.parentalrights.org/petition and sign the petition for the adoption of the Parental Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

Pass this information on to friends and encourage them to do the same.

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