Stand Up for the Civil Rights of People With Disabilities

In a recent op-ed for JTA, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of Laszlo Strategies, addresses the urgent need for the U.S. Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Mizrahi, the parent of a child with special needs, urges members of the Jewish community to call their Senators to voice their support for this convention. Ian Hainline, the Religious Action Center’s Legislative Assistant on disability right issues, wrote earlier this month that the convention “represents an international effort to bring the world closer to achieving the goals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.”

Mizrahi’s op-ed reads, in part:

Several important Jewish organizations are standing behind a critical international treaty to support civil rights, dignity and hope for people with disabilities. However, grass-roots help is urgently needed to get it approved by the U.S. Senate before the political season overtakes the ability to get things done in Washington.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is under consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is already supported by the Association of Jewish Family & Children’s Agencies, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Rabbinical Assembly, The Jewish Federations of North America, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Women’s Rabbinic Network. But you can make a difference by calling your senator at (202) 225-3121.

The convention realizes an international effort to achieve global goals of economic self-sufficiency, equality of opportunity, full participation and independent living for people with disabilities. These goals are enshrined in our own Americans with Disabilities Act, a model for the convention. The convention will enable Americans with disabilities working or traveling abroad, such as veterans or members of military families with disabilities, to access the same protections as they enjoy in America.

Visit JTA to read the rest of her op-ed.