On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 61-38, refused to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The successful derailing of this treaty came despite votes of support from both Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown. The treaty needed two-thirds support, or 67 votes, for ratification.

“Now that CRPD is defeated, we know that the United Nations won’t have oversight of how we care for our special needs kids,” wrote former Senator Rick Santorum following the vote. “This treaty would have given the UN oversight of the healthcare and education choices parents with special needs kids make. Had it passed, CRPD would have become the law of the land under the US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, and would have trumped state laws, and could have been used as precedent by state and federal judges.”

We are disappointed that Senator Brown chose to support the treaty. Hundreds of you responded to our call to contact Senator Brown with our concern over parental rights. Although we were not able to sway his opinion on this issue, he did release an email response specifically mentioning that question of parental rights which we raised. The overall goal of the convention may have been noble, but its ratification would have caused serious problems for parental rights and U.S. sovereignty. MFI is appreciative that enough senators agreed with this assessment, and voted against CRPD.