UPDATE AND CALL FOR CONTINUED PRAYER AND NEW ACTION, Jan. 28: After a short sham trial, Iran has convicted American Pastor Saeed Abedini – a U.S. citizen – and sentenced him to eight years in one of Iran's most brutal and deadly prisons – merely because he is a Christian.Iran has violated Pastor Saeed's human rights, violated its own constitution, and violated multiple international treaties and covenants that it voluntarily and willingly signed. At the ACLJ, we are mobilizing a domestic and international effort to pressure Iran to abide by its treaties and agreements. We are calling on the United Nations and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights to directly intervene and demand Pastor Saeed's release.Morere than 250,000 of you signed our petition to ask the Obama Administration to intervene, and the White House and State Department responded. PLEASE CONTINUE PRAYING for him, his release and for his family AND Sign this NEW petition to mobilize the international community. http://aclj.org/iran/save-american-pastor-from-iranian-prison-sentence
PLEASE CONSIDER: I am participating in the annual fundraiser Walk for Life on Feb. 9 for a local pregnancy resource center that ministers to girls and women who might otherwise abort their baby. My goal is $213. If you can make a pledge of $10 or more, please go to http://www.razoo.com/story/Stan-M-Yonashiro, THANK YOU for whatever you can pledge. (I'd especially appreciate your prayers that I (and all the walkers) will meet my goal.)
"Disabilities Treaty Just Another U.N. Power Grab"- by Amy Payne, November 28, 2012[NOTE: Even though this item came up in the news several months ago, I never had a chance to post it and wanted to be sure you saw it to remind you to be wary of proposals coming out of the U.N. that this administration esp. tends to champion. So much of what international bodies would have the U.S. sign on to are atttempts to chip away at our national sovereignty and replace it with what other nations often not friendly to the U.S. want that is not what is in the best interests of America. - Stan]
International treaties sound like a good idea, especially when they claim to protect vulnerable people. The problem is, America already does more than any other country to ensure equal rights for its people—and the United Nations just wants the power to interfere in American law.
The Senate is now considering the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). President Obama signed this treaty in 2009, but the Senate has yet to agree to it. It needs a two-thirds majority of Senators to ratify it. In September, 36 Republican Senators signed a letter [1] stating that they would oppose any treaties that came up for a vote during the lame-duck session of Congress. We will see now whether that promise holds. [This bill WAS defeated by the Senate. - Stan]
Steven Groves, Heritage’s Bernard and Barbara Lomas Senior Research Fellow, has explained that despite its name, the treaty will not help Americans with disabilities [3]:
"The rights of Americans with disabilities are well protected under existing law and are enforced by a wide range of state and federal agencies. Joining CRPD merely opens the door for foreign “experts” to interfere in U.S. policymaking in violation of the principles of American sovereignty [4]."For starters, the treaty doesn’t even define disabilities, but says that “disability is an evolving concept [5].” This is consistent with the nature of U.N. treaties, which often extend the organization’s reach beyond the original treaty concept. Groves writes [3]:
"Human rights treaty committees have been known to make demands that fall well outside the scope of the subject matter of the treaty and conflict with the legal, social, economic, and cultural traditions and norms of states. This has especially been the case with the U.S."For example, the U.N. committee that is supposed to make recommendations on racial discrimination tried to dictate to the United States how it should handle enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay and said the U.S. should end the death penalty. And the committee that oversees the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women regularly advocates that the U.S. decriminalize prostitution.
The disabilities treaty could open the door for abortion advocates [6] “to pressure the U.S. to liberalize its domestic abortion laws or policies governing foreign aid for family planning,” says Heritage’s Grace Melton. U.N. officials have already pointed to language in the treaty as helpful in expanding abortion.
As if all of this weren’t enough, U.N. treaties are always aimed directly at Americans’ wallets. This one is no different. The cost of enforcing it is unknown. Not only does the treaty fail to define who would be considered disabled, but it also adds entitlements to whoever that may be. In addition to covering traditional civil rights, the treaty attempts to guarantee [5]:
"...certain economic, social, and cultural “positive rights,” such as the right to education, health, and “an adequate standard of living for [persons with disabilities] and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.”As is usually the case, the United States is already an example to the rest of the world in this area. This country has multiple major federal laws that protect Americans with disabilities, ensuring their access to services and their rights—in addition to the rights all Americans enjoy because of the Bill of Rights. No other country can begin to compete with the safeguards America has in place.
Inviting the United Nations and other international groups to come in with authority over America’s treatment of its citizens would not help people with disabilities and would have many harmful—and costly—consequences.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
- Joni and Friends, a group founded by quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada, came out against the U.N. disabilities treaty [7] and urged people to “focus on enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act” and invest in global programs that provide spiritual and practical help.
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/11/28/morning-bell-disabilities-treaty-just-another-u-n-power-grab/
URLs in this post:
[1] signed a letter: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/09/21/senate-conservatives-gather-enough-votes-to-block-lame-duck-treaties/
[2] Watch our new video on the Zombie Congress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-5VfecDO_Q&feature=youtu.be
[3] will not help Americans with disabilities: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/11/26/disabilities-treaty-will-not-help-americans-with-disabilities/
[4] in violation of the principles of American sovereignty: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/04/ratification-of-the-disabilities-convention-would-erode-american-sovereignty?query=Ratification+of+the+Disabilities+Convention+Would+Erode+American+Sovereignty
[5] disability is an evolving concept: http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2012/11/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities
[6] abortion advocates: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/08/01/u-n-disabilities-treaty-leaves-door-open-for-abortion-advocates/
[7] came out against the U.N. disabilities treaty: http://www.worldmag.com/2012/11/disabilities_group_opposes_un_treaty
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