Recently I posted about U.S. Deputy Attorney General candidate David Ogden, who not only approves of the controversial U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, but already recommends that judicial decisions be decided as though the U.S. has ratified it (which we have not!)

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Ogden’s confirmation this Thursday, February 26, 2009. If you value your parental rights, you’ll want to learn more about this situation, and then let your senators know how you feel before they vote on Thursday.

Please be aware that the best way to get through to senators is by phone. Email is certainly easier, but they often don’t  pay attention to emails about controversial issues.  On the other hand, thousands of  phone calls from concerned citizens get their attention, especially when they overwhelm the phone system (as homeschoolers did back in 1994 regarding H.R. 6).

If you’ve never called your senators before, it’s not a big deal. An aide will answer the phone, you tell them that you would like Sen. So-and-So to vote for or against something, and the aide will make note of your opinion. He/she will likely ask for your name and address (especially if it’s your first time to call their office), and that’s that. You shouldn’t have to give your reasons or defend your opinion.

If they ask for your name and address, it’s so that they can 1) make sure you live in the senator’s state, and 2) have an address so they can send you a form letter thanking you for your opinion. At least that’s been my experience over the years.

Back in the days of the Clinton administration, an ugly idea was born, and it grew. It was called the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The stated purpose of this, as posted at the U.N.’s website, is “to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.”

Sounds good, right? No sane person wants to see children hurt. But, in this case, there’s a catch. Again in the words of the U.N.:

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights-civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights….By agreeing to undertake the obligations of the Convention (by ratifying or acceding to it), national governments have committed themselves to protecting and ensuring children’s rights and they have agreed to hold themselves accountable for this commitment before the international community.

Here’s where things get sticky. By ratifying this, the U.S. would be handing over its authority to the U.N. Their rules would supersede our laws.

To make matters worse, those who are the driving force behind this often view children’s rights differently than we do. Parents who spank could be found in violation of it. So could parents who homeschool.

Bottom line: this stinks. It first reared its ugly head during the Clinton administration (new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a big proponent of this). Fortunately it was not ratified by our Congress at that time. Not surprisingly, the Bush administration did nothing to promote it.

But now the Obama administration is in charge, and many of its members are on the U.N.’s side on this issue. In fact, the Senate is scheduled to vote very soon on the confirmation of Deputy Attorney General nominee David W. Ogden, who actually believes we should already be following the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Learn more about him here.

As parents, we need to stay on top of this, and to call our legislators as the need arises.

HT: Kim D.