There was a tremndous outcry from the disability community including people from the USA that it needed to be approved so that the all people worldwide would have rights.

You would be right if they had not in the USA and in most other countries enacted laws that specifically nullify rights many assume everyone has.

I've not seen such laws and would rather fight that individual law rather than making such sweeping new laws. We've got enough laws already.

Vatican refuses to endorse UN charter of disability rights -16/12/06

The Vatican has indicated that, at present, it will not be signing a new, widely-heralded international treaty to protect the rights and dignity of people living with disabilities.

The UN-sanctioned treaty needs to be ratified by individual member states, and Britain is among those who have made an early indication of their intention to do so. As a city-state the Vatican is in a position to take a similar lead, but is being encouraged in its present decision not to do so by anti-abortion hardliners.

The Holy See says that, despite reassurances to the contrary, it is concerned that the treaty's inclusion of a reference to "sexual and reproductive health" could be construed as promoting abortion...

There are countries (I wish I could state them - but a quick google search came up empty) where people with disabilities are not allowed to choose to have abortions because they are presumed incompetent to make any medical decision on their own behalf.(Not because they a have guardian, but because they have a disability.)

The rational behind this is that human rights should be enjoyed by all and that having a disability should not deprive anyone of specific rights because of their disability -

Karen,
There are countries and states where epilepsy is all one needs a diagnosis for to be considered incompetent to make a medical decision. North Carolina is a state where a person with a diagnsis of epilepsy can be declared incompetent by the county clerk.

Davyd, How many people have the time, the cash, and the where-with-all to address these issues? Especially people in third world countries with less access to the internet and the telephone?
The rational behind this is that human rights should be enjoyed by all and that having a disability should not deprive anyone of specific rights because of their disability - and far too often they do.

Some people are simply unable to advocate for themselves because they do not have the tools to do it. It is not a matter of choice.

As to rights vs responsibilities. People with disabilites should have the right to have children as should anyone. No one should be forced to have an abortion or to give up their child for adoption on account of disability.

On the otherhand, I do think that inability to provide proper care for a child is reason to not be allowed to have a child. But how can that be determined?

Poor people who clearly cannot afford to have children have them all the time. Do we want a law that sets an income requirement of people being able to have children? How poor is too poor to have a child? How are we going to prevent them from having children? Sterilize them? Force abortions? Force them to have birth control injections? That only prevents poor women from having children - what about preventing poor men who will never support their children from inpregnanting women who might not qualify as poor until they have unsupported children?

History does have a way of repeating itself, though. Being aware of the past is important in that respect, no?

I agree, it's what I kept telling you in regards to Iraq but you kept telling me that I shouldn't keep bringing up the mistakes that were made.

The difference is, Iraq is ongoing in today's world.

Wow...I sit corrected...the bad word ban is one again.

Heh...you can't say [censored] but you can say fucking. Verbs are allowed...woot!

As to rights vs responsibilities. People with disabilites should have the right to have children as should anyone. No one should be forced to have an abortion or to give up their child for adoption on account of disability.