Parental Rights Amendment

This is a long post. Please read. Many of you will recieve it in your e-mail. It is of utmost importance.
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Dr. Michael Farris, co-founder of HSLDA and Parentalrights.org. Farris is the principle author of the proposed Parental Rights amendment now being submitted to the Congress.

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 supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

This amendment is a response to the growing support against and encroachment upon our national sovereignty and fundamental rights by international law and our increasingly legislative judiciary. The immediate threat is a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child(UNCRC).

This treaty was signed by Janet Reno in 1995 but never ratified by the Senate. Article 6; Clause 2 of the United States Constitution states that any treaty ratified by the Senate would become the supreme law of the land. Therefore if ratified this treaty would supersede all state law on children and parents.

According to Dr. Farris, the UNCRC is based on two principles.
First, Government decides what is best in any matter.
Second, the child’s right to self determination is paramount unless the child’s wishes conflict with the government’s decision.

According to Parentalrights.org, among other freedoms, it would abolish a parent’s right to reasonably discipline their children. Good parents would no longer be entitled to the legal presumption that they act in the best interests of their children. Instead the governments would have the authority to overrule all parents on any decision concerning the child if the government believed it could make a better decision.
Children would have the legal right to choose their own religion. Parents would be permitted only to give advice.

Other freedom killing effects of this law:
America would be under a binding legal obligation to massively increase its federal spending on children’s programs. It has been interpreted to mean that it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than on children’s welfare.
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.
A child’s “right to be heard” would allow them to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC. (“Why we need the parental rights amendment”, Parentalrights.org, 2009)


The UNCRC affects the very foundations of our liberties, especially religious liberty.
Is the family the fundamental unit of society or is the government the unit that controls the actions of the family? Dr. Farris pointed out in his lecture that we as a nation no longer understand the purpose of government.
There are some who believe that government exists to provide for our needs. This is socialism. There are others who understand that government exists to protect life, liberty, and Property. This is freedom.
It has been long acknowledged by leaders of our nation since the Founders that parental rights are a fundamental right; that directing the upbringing of children is a right only to be abridged in the case of proven abuse. However, since the year 2000 our parental rights have been seriously eroded by the Supreme Court when, according to Parentalrights.org, it held that any person could override a good parent’s decision about visitation rights by simply claiming that it would be best for children to allow the third-party to have visitation rights.
In this case there were six separate opinions and none reached a five-vote majority.
Justice Scalia held that parents have no constitutionally protected rights whatsoever.
Justice Thomas was the only Justice to clearly state that parental rights receive the same high legal standard of protection as other fundamental rights. (parentalrights.org)

Dr Farris explained that virtually all Federal decisions in 2008 ruled against parental rights as fundamental rights because of the decision of the Supreme Court in 2000.

At the same time America is poised to adopt the treaty this year. Our highest government officials support it and Senator Barbara Boxer has “promised’ that this treaty will be ratified during this term of Congress.

Under the UNCRC, you will no longer be allowed to teach your children that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Only suggest it. You will not be allowed, by force of law, to insist your child accompany you to church. You will not be allowed, by force of law, to choose alternative schooling to the public schools. The treaty will supersede all state law on children and parents.
The UNCRC proposes a form of religious tolerance to religious liberty.
Religious liberty is when each individual has the unimpeded right to believe and practice his belief, unless he infringes on the right of another to do the same.
Religious tolerance, as those proposing the UNCRC understand it, substitutes for liberty a belief that all truth is the same or that there is no real truth at all so it is wrong(and the treaty makes it illegal) for one to believe in any truth or teach that there is truth even to ones own children.

If you believe in American sovereignty, that America should make the rules for America, you are against the UNCRC.
If you believe that all people have the unalienable right to religious liberty you are against the UNCRC.
If you believe that you as the parent are the one to make decisions in the best interest of your own children, you are against the UNCRC.
If you believe that the family is the fundamental unit of society, that government exists to protect the life, liberty and property of FAMILIES, that in fact the family grants powers to the government and has the right to dictate to it and not the other way around, you are against the UNCRC.

Some beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to which I am a member pertain to this subject.

The 11th Article of Faith:
We claim the privilege of worshiping almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men this same privilege, let them worship how where or what they may.

According to the words of our First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve in The Family: A Proclamation to the World (1995)

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.
“The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The final line in the Proclamation on the Family is an admonition to the world from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve: “We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”

I am determined to support Parentalrights.org in passing this amendment to the United States Constitution. In the words of Dr. Farris, “The time is short, the need is urgent!”
I recommend you to go to www.parentalrights.org to learn more and see how you can help in this critical fight for our fundamental liberties and the strengthening of families.