Tuesday March 16, 2010
Canada Ratifies UN Convention on Rights of Disabled
By Patrick B. Craine
OTTAWA, Ontario, March 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian government announced last week that they have ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, meeting both praise and caution from pro-life leaders and advocates for the disabled.
The Hon. Lawrence Cannon (CPC-Pontiac), Minister of Foreign Affairs, ratified the Convention at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. “Canada is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and enabling their full participation in society,” he commented in a press release beforehand. “Ratification of this convention underscores the Government of Canada’s strong commitment to this goal.”
Alex Schadenberg, a disabilities advocate and executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that he believes the Convention should bring greater protections to the disabled in the country.
Schadenberg highlighted in particular the importance of the Convention’s article 25(f), which requires states to “prevent discriminatory denial of health care or health services or food and fluids on the basis of disability.” This is significant because, Schadenberg says, the practice of denying nutrition and hydration to patients who are not dying is rampant in Canada, as well as the U.S. The most famous case of this was that of Terri Schiavo, who died after having food and water withheld, even though she was not dying.
With Canada’s ratification of the Convention, Schadenberg says he thinks “we can now question when somebody is not dying and being denied fluids” as though “Canadian-approved policy” is being violated.
“We recognize that Canadians with disabilities … don’t receive full equality within our culture, and it’s important that we uphold [their equality],” he said.
The Convention is an international human rights instrument intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the Convention are required to promote, protect and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities, and to ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law.
The first UN human rights treaty of the twenty-first century, it was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13th, 2006 and signed by Canada on March 30th, 2007. While most documents passed at the UN are non-binding, a treaty such as this is binding on ratifying countries and requires them to change their laws accordingly.
Pro-life forces at the UN lost a fierce battle with their pro-abortion foes over this Convention, however, as the latter succeeded in securing language in the document that recognizes a right to “sexual and reproductive health” for the disabled. The inclusion of such language, which is easily and often interpreted as recognizing a right to abortion, led the Holy See to refuse its signature.
Fifteen nations, including Canada and the U.S., provided interpretive statements on that language indicating that they did not take it as including abortion. No nation contradicted those assertions.
Mary Ellen Douglas, national organizer for Campaign Life Coalition, applauded the government for committing not to read abortion into the Convention, but warned that the document’s vague language regarding “reproductive health” is a dangerous “vehicle for [the UN] to use whenever they feel like down the line.”
“Planned Parenthood’s complete obsession with sexual and reproductive health being put into every document that passes the UN is visible here in this particular document, where it does not seem to actually be needed,” she said.
“We’re pleased that it was qualified by Canada and the US,” she added. “If Canada has not approved it to include abortion, then we applaud that.”
Maurice Vellacott, a pro-life Conservative MP from Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, applauded the government in the House of Commons last Thursday. “This convention promotes the full inclusion of persons with disabilities around the world,” he said. “We know that Canadians with disabilities make significant contributions to our communities and our economy.”
“Mr. Speaker, today all Canadians can truly be proud,” he added. “The ratification of this historic convention is yet another step to ensuring Canadians with disabilities have opportunities to contribute to our great country.”
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Vatican Refuses to Sign UN Disabilities Rights Treaty over Pro-Abortion Language
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06121406.html
New UN Convention Forbids Withdrawal of Food or Fluids from Disabled like Terri Schiavo
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06121505.html
New UN Human Rights Treaty Threatens to Include Access to Abortion as “Hard” International Law
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081005.html