WASHINGTON – Children need more than the U.S. Bill of Rights to protect them, according to three House Democrats. On Friday, they introduced a 22-point bill of rights just for children.
The Children’s Bill of Rights includes the right to receive appropriate medical treatment, including therapeutic care, and the right of access to training in life skills.
More than a fifth of children live in poverty. Because of this, their rights to physical, mental and educational well-being are constantly challenged or forgotten. Children are 23.3 percent of the population and and a third of those in poverty.
The bill, supported by the First Focus Campaign for Children and 118 other organizations, includes 22 rights expanding on children’s freedom of speech and the protection of their health and education.
The bill was introduced by Reps. Karen Bass, D-Calif., Judy Chu, D-Calif. and Luis V. Gutiérrez, D-Ill.
Gutiérrez said the bill is not controversial but is about basic human rights.
The U.S. is the only country that has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Republicans have opposed the U.N. document for fear it would impose costs on the government and usurp parental rights.
“One right in the resolution that I am particularly proud of says, ‘children’ – our children, my children – ‘have the right to have parents, elected officials, and other adults consider the impact that their decisions have on their care and communities,’” Gutiérrez said. “It is so basic. It is a shame we need resolutions to remind us of what is a right.”
The House members said these rights are important because of the high poverty rate for children.
“If you think about it for one minute, the United States of America is the richest country on the planet,” Bass said. “There is no reason in the world that we should not provide health care, housing, education, food, clothing and every other item that every human being needs, especially children.”
The bill is about making sure that children are in the right hands to have a healthy and enriching environment to grow up in. It is the government’s job to make sure that happens, Bass said.
In 2011, more than 400,500 children were in foster care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“We take them away from their parents because we believe their parents either neglect or abuse them,” Bass said. “When we take them away from their parents, then we, the government, become their parents, and so to me, we need to make sure that every arm of government does not repeat the abuse and neglect that we have found their parents to be guilty of.”
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