Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Republicans Hate Disabled Children

The UN treaty for the rights of persons with disabilities failed in the Senate solely through the opposition of Republicans. I couldn't figure this out. It takes a particularly cruel variant of Scrooge to knock the crutch out from under Tiny Tim yet Republicans proudly wielded the cudgel. The opposition is irrational since the treaty simply spreads current United States law to the rest of the world.

The public reason usually given is they had to oppose the treaty to defend home schooling, which makes no sense, so I have dug a little deeper.
  1. Black Helicopter Terror. It's a UN treaty. Republicans hate anything to do with the United Nations. They especially fear this treaty is part of a master plot to impose a UN dictatorship on the United States.
  2. Women's Rights. Because some disabled people are women, Republicans fear "Article 6(2) is a backdoor method of requiring the United States to comply with the general provisions of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women." Republicans have fought against women's rights for decades.
  3. Torture Rights. Republicans object to a ban on "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" in the treaty. Specifically they demand the right to beat disabled children.
  4. Children's Rights. Republicans object to this sentence in Article 7, "In all actions concerning children with disabilities, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." Republicans want to be able to ignore the best interests of the child.
  5. Birth Certificates. Republicans hate Article 18 that states all disabled children have the right to a birth certificate.
Here are some sources from the Home School Legal Defense Association.
Threat to Family Integrity by William Estrada
Dangerous UN Treaty from Examiner.com
A Danger to Homeschool Families by Michael Farris

The next time someone tells you Republicans are capable of rational thought, remind them of this treaty.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This was fairly shocking yesterday, from what I've seen.

I wonder how many Republican Senators would vote for the Americans with Disabilities Act if it came up for a vote today...