The UNCRPD would change the legal standard.

I try not to get into politics too much around here, but there is occasionally something of such great import than I just can’t let it pass by.  The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities that the Congress is currently trying to pass is one such example.

The UNCRPD, like the UNCRC (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) sounds good on the surface, but is actually quite dangerous to our liberties because it would alter certain legal standards.

Both of these treaties call for evaluating decisions based on the “best interest of the child.”  Of course, it’s not unreasonable to wonder what in the world could be wrong with that!  The problem is the difference between the phrase’s everyday meaning and its legal meaning.

Obviously, any sane, kind person wants to do what is in the best interest of a child.  But we have an issue when we make this the legal standard, because it’s policymakers who get to decide what does or doesn’t satisfy that requirement.  So if you and the policymaker disagree on what’s best for your child, who gets to make the final decision?  The policymaker!  This takes authority that is currently – and rightly – in the hands of individuals and parents, and places it in the hands of policymakers with no vested interest in your or your child’s well-being.

Who’s telling us how to run our country?

A second issue that bothers me, personally, is simply the fact that we are considering signing a treaty that would affect domestic law.  That is not what treaties are for.  The purpose of a legitimate treaty is to agree on certain inter-national activities or behavior.  We do not need to sign treaties with other countries specifying what we will or will not do in our own country.  This is a very dangerous precedent, in my opinion.

If there are things that need to be changed or clarified regarding the treatment of people with disabilities in the US (and I’m not making any assertion one way or the other), fine – change them or clarify them!  But we are more than capable of doing so for ourselves, without making ourselves subject to international committees.