Raising children is certainly a challenge for any parent. However, does the Child Protective AGENCY to be CONTINOUSLY reminded that they, the AGENCY are bound through "ReasonableEfforts" to do so??? (Learn more about "Making Reasonable Efforts"
So do read these comments and become a member of our Team for:
Our Families
Our Children
Our Future
Parental Rights Amendment Inclusive of Parents with Disabilities
-- October 27, 2015
From its conception it has
been the aim of ParentalRights.org to protect in the text of the
Constitution the rights of all parents to direct the upbringing,
education, and care of their children. To that end we have just added a
new section to the proposed language in order to address an ongoing
weakness in the practice of parental rights law.
The new section provides that
“The parental rights guaranteed by this article
shall not be denied or abridged on account of disability.”
According to a study of
the National Council on Disability:
The proposed Parental
Rights Amendment offers the opportunity to address and correct this
wrong, and the addition of this new language makes clear our intention
to do just that.
This is more than an opportunity; it is an obligation.
During the 20th Century
the Supreme Court developed a doctrine of “protected classes” – special
classifications of citizens against whom the government is prohibited
from discriminating under the Fourteenth Amendment. Religious groups,
racial minorities, and women are all among these “protected classes,”
identified through a line of civil rights and anti-discrimination acts
dating back to 1964.
In its embarrassing eugenics-era Buck v. Bell
decision, however, the Court made clear ahead of time that the disabled
were not on that list. Their opinion would be horrifyingly offensive to
our modern sensibilities:
“It is better for all the
world,” Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote for the 1927 Court, “if
instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let
them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind…. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
It is easy to dismiss this as a prejudiced view from a less sensitive time. Yet, even with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, this case still hangs over the disabled like the sword of Damocles. It is a precedent that has never been over-turned;
the government still retains the power to make decisions for the
disabled that it could never make for more mainstream members of
society.
In a much different 1979
decision the Court wrote, “The law’s concept of the family…
historically…has recognized that natural bonds of affection lead parents
to act in the best interests of their children….
Sadly, this legal presumption of parental fitness often fails to serve the parent who suffers a disability.
The time has come to correct this wrong, and the proposed Parental Rights Amendment is just the vehicle by which to do it.
We have said consistently that as parents we are all in this together. This is one more opportunity to prove that point.
Certainly we are hopeful
that many individuals and organizations of the disability community will
take an interest in this addition and join our fight to preserve
parental rights. Already we are thrilled to welcome the endorsement of
the National Federation of the Blind.
But even if other disabled
citizens do not join our effort we will stand for their rights
alongside our own. Because knowledge of the errors of the past is not
sufficient to prevent their repetition; when it comes our turn we must be faithful to set a different course.
We are proud to set that course today.
To read the entire Parental Rights Amendment as it is currently proposed, click here.
Sincerely,
Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~May you find Strength in Your Higher Power,GranPa Chuck
