Mike Farris:
I’m joined today by my good friend and former U.S. senator, Rick Santorum. Rick, welcome to the program.
Sen. Santorum:
Well, thank you, Mike.
Mike:
I’d like to talk with you about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. You and I both have significant concerns about this treaty. Can you share why you are personally invested in this treaty’s outcome?
Sen. Santorum:
Honestly, it was my wife, Karen and I, we both believed that the one provision that dealt with the rights of parents to do what is in the best interests of their child is a paramount right in this country. To shift the power of what is in the best interest of your child to the state and away from the parent is a fundamental erosion of parental rights in this country, and is a grave threat to children with disabilities, particularly severe disabilities that have significant expenses attached to that disability. So, when we read that provision that said that this treaty would, in fact, extend rights to the state to care for, or to determine what is in the best interest of that child, that was a deal breaker for us.
Mike:
Rick, I think this should concern every American. I’m Mike Farris.
