Parental Rights Under Attack - Please take the time to read this!

Hello All -

I hope you all know that I very rarely forward emails or send out anything political. However, there is an urgent issue that crosses party lines that I am called to send out this email about. I think many people are completely unaware of the issue, and I passionately consider it to be one of the biggest in our lifetimes.

After I make my personal plea, I'm cutting and pasting "TWENTY THINGS You Need to Know
About the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child" from ParentalRights.org.

Loads more (terrifying) information available at www.parentalrights.org, and I've attached a couple of pdfs if you want to know more right now. I'm not asking you to donate money, I'm asking you to make yourself aware of this vitally important issue and contact your representatives.

Why We Need An Amendment

The Fight of Our Lifetime

I know it's easy to shuffle this off, but we are reaching a breaking point here. Read about the government intrusion into parents responsibilities (because the UN thinks that the government has a duty to raise good members of society and make sure the parents are parenting correctly). There is story after story of how this treaty is being enforced around the world. Proponents of ratification say that the things we are concerned about won't happen here, but THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING in other countries that have ratified the treaty, and some US lawyers are already citing the UNRotC in case law.

Most believe this issue will be decided in the next couple of months, and then it's over. We aren't coming back from here.

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. There are three ways to get ahold of her. Please dial ONE of them, and deliver the message that you oppose the CRC, and that she should represent Americans to the United Nations rather than push a UN agenda on our country.

1. Dial the main line at 1-212-415-4000, and dial 6 to leave your message; OR
2. Dial the Public Diplomacy Office at 1-212-415-4050 and leave a message; OR
3. Dial her office directly at 1-212-415-4404. Again, you will need to leave a message.

3. Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment.

If you are an Oregonian, here are our Senators and their contact information:

Sen. Ron Wyden
Website: wyden.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:
223 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3703
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717

Portland Office:
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: (503) 326-7525
Fax: (503) 326-7528

Sen. Jeff Merkley
Website: merkley.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:
107 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3704
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Fax: (202) 228-3997

Portland Office:
121 SW Salmon Street, #1250
Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: (503) 326-3386
Fax: (503) 326-2900

It is very important that we speak up right now. Please call before you close this email! Some of the phone lines are busy, but I did get through to Senators Wyden and Merkley. It was easy and only took a few moments.

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TWENTY THINGS You Need to Know
About the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

TEN THINGS to know about the STRUCTURE of the CRC:

1. It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law. It is no mere statement of altruism.
2. Its effect would be binding on American families, courts, and policy-makers.
3. Children of other nations would not be impacted or helped in any direct way by our ratification.
4. The CRC would automatically override almost all American laws on children and families because of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI.
5. The CRC has some elements that are self-executing, others would require implementing legislation. Federal courts would have the power to determine which provisions were selfexecuting.
6. The courts would have the power to directly enforce the provisions that are self-executing.
7. Congress would have the power to directly legislate on all subjects necessary to comply with the treaty. This would be the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.
8. A committee of 18 experts from other nations sitting in Geneva has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty which are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. This effectively transfers ultimate policy authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.
9. Under international law, the treaty overrides even our Constitution.
10. Reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.

TEN THINGS to know about the SUBSTANCE of the CRC:

1. Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
2. A murderer aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
3. Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
4. The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
5. A child’s “right to be heard” would allow them to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
6. This treaty has been interpreted to make it illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
7. Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
8. Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.
9. Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
10. Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services without parental knowledge or consent.

The SOLUTION: A constitutional amendment to codify parental rights.
The proposed PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
HJRes 42
Section 1.
The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their
children is a fundamental right.
Section 2.
Neither the United States nor any State shall infringe upon this right without
demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of
the highest order and not otherwise served.
Section 3.
No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to
upersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.