Tell Your Senators to Oppose Ratifying the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities

Dear FreedomWorks member,

As one of our million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and urge them to vote oppose ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).While the Senate recently voted to not ratify the CRPD, the U.N. treaty is far from dead— Senate leadership has already pledged to bring it to another vote at the beginning of the 113th Congress. The U.N. treaty may sound well-intentioned but it would erode U.S. sovereignty and hurt families with disabled children.

The U.S. should not submit its constitutional authority to an international unelected body. President Obama signed the CRPD in 2009 because it would supposedly ensure full equality under law and that disabled individuals are protected from discrimination in the workplace. However, disabled Americans are already protected from discrimination under existing U.S. laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. There is no good reason to ratify the redundant and unnecessary CRPD when we already have federal and state agencies enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

Families with disabled children would be hurt under the U.N. Treaty. Many families find it beneficial to home school their special needs child instead of sending them to public schools which can often be detrimental to their development. The U.N. wants to enforce global CRPD parental standards that would undermine parental authority and could limit their educational choices. Parents should decide what is best for their child; not U.N. bureaucrats.

CRPD is a U.N. power grab that will take away power from our elected representatives and hurt families with disabled children. If the U.S. joins the CRPD, this will open the door for international bureaucrats to intervene in U.S. policymaking. Please contact your senators and urge them to oppose ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
[Click here for a PDF version of this letter.]