Senate Urges Rejection of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

The state Senate on Wednesday approved a resolution urging the United States Senate to reject the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Sen. Dan Newberry, Senate author of House Concurrent Resolution 1033, said the U.S. government should work to strengthen the rights of parents, rather than adopting international treaties that could weaken the foundation of the family.

“It could possibly supercede our laws regarding our children and families,” said Newberry, R-Tulsa. “In my opinion, it carries the potential to erode the foundation of the family and the sovereignty of our laws. We cannot allow an international body to set forth any kind of edict that may limit the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit.”

Newberry noted that under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, treaties that are ratified by the U.S. Senate become a part of the “supreme law of the land” and that state laws and constitutions are subservient to such treaties. Newberry added that the U.S. Government should be opposed to any such treaty that could limit sovereignty.

“The treaty could potentially give the government the right to override reasonable decisions made by parents concerning the upbringing of their children,” Newberry said. “We need to preserve our ability to determine our own laws, and we need to preserve the core principle of self-government.”