On Tuesday there was a very dramatic tone to the ‘Aye and ‘Nays being given by the Senate for the UN Disabilities Convention Treaty. When people voted, they voted sitting down in their seats out of respect to former Senator Bob Dole, who is in a wheelchair. The UN treaty which presents standards for treating and employing people with disabilities is a treaty being championed by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts. Supporters of the treaty are describing this as an opportunity for the United States to demonstrate other nations that as a country it can be held accountable to the internationally accepted, high standards. The treaty did not pass but it was only five Yes votes away. A significant majority of Republicans did not support the treaty thirty eight voted No while eight voted yes. In order to strike down this proposal there was intense efforts made by interest groups.
One particular and somewhat surprising interest group was C-Fam Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). It was involved mainly because this treaty ensures people with disabilities access to reproductive health resources. This group staunchly opposes birth control and they believed this clause would make birth control more viable for people. As an interest group CFam is usually working through family related legislation, not disability related issues. when they found one thought that was slightly threatening to their mission, they focused on blocking the entire policy. This is frustrating considering that the policy’s purpose had many more, larger functions such as channeling millions of people towards employment. There will always be debates about which opinion is the nobler or more important opinion to support. Different interest groups rally around common causes all the time, that is how elected officials feel pressured to make decisions that their constituents want, More commonly, advocates are lobbying to change or to protect an existing public policy with diverse effects on a number of constituencies. The sides that get mobilized to protect the status quo or to demand change are rarely homogenous,” (Berry, 22).
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