Action Alert! Urge a Vote in the States on Federal Parents’ Rights Amendment
Friday, June 5, 2009 at 12:00 AM
We occasionally hear about efforts by the federal government and the states to assume control of decisions more rightly made in individual homes regarding the welfare of children. And while the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld parents’ rights, signs are pointing toward a need to protect those rights in the U.S. Constitution.
CMC enthusiastically supports H.J. Res. 42, the Parents’ Rights Constitutional Amendment, and encourages Congress to promptly send the amendment to the states for ratification. Click here to ask your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators to support the amendment.
The Parents’ Rights Constitutional Amendment is sponsored by Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and currently has 91 House co-sponsors. More information is available here.
The amendment is best considered a preventive measure; it declares that “the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right.” Its presence in the Constitution would prevent the nation or any state from infringing upon this right without demonstrating the government’s interest should override those of parents – so an abusive parent wouldn’t be able to hide behind the amendment. And importantly, it would also prohibit Congress from entering into any treaty or using any form of international law to restrict parents’ rights.
The latter provision is necessary because of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty proposed in 1995 that would have permitted the government to intervene in the parent-child relationship to guarantee the “best interest of the child” – as defined, of course, by the government and not by families. President Clinton signed that treaty, but thankfully it was not ratified in the Senate. President Obama, as a candidate, pledged to review the treaty, saying it was “embarrassing” that it had not been ratified. While it’s not likely to become a primary item on the president’s agenda anytime soon, a resolution that would send the question to the states is timely and appropriate.
It’s impossible to know if U.S. ratification of the treaty or a federal law undermining parents’ rights could keep parents from spanking their children, requiring them to attend church or forbiding medical decisions as minor as body piercing and as major as abortion. The question is who should make those decisions in the life of the family; our conviction is that the answer is the family, not the government.
Opponents are likely to say this amendment is unnecessary, but that talking point is one rogue judge’s decision away from being null and void. Far better to prevent a judge from authorizing an oppressive intrusion into parent-child relationships by passing a constitutional amendment, we believe. In any event, it’s difficult to argue against the notion that the people, through the state legislatures, should decide this foundational issue – and that’s what Congress’s passage of the resolution would mean.
Click here to ask your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators to support the Parents’ Rights Constitutional Amendment.
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Posted By: Jen Fad
Saturday, June 6th 2009 at 11:25PM
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