WHEREAS all children across the world are born with the right to human dignity and the potential to realize their full capacities;
WHEREAS the future of the world is directly linked to the well-being of today's children;
WHEREAS millions of children still live in conditions of poverty, abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
WHEREAS comprehensive individual development (including psychological development) can take place only under conditions that protect one's human rights;
WHEREAS the United Nations, working for 10 years with the cooperation of individuals, organizations, and governments; and having produced a Convention on the Rights of the Child, will vote on whether to pass this first international human rights treaty on behalf of children in November 1989;
WHEREAS the American Psychological Association, its Officers, and its governing Council share concern for the welfare of children; and
WHEREAS while recognizing that some of the language of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child could be misconstrued and thereby used to limit the freedom of reproductive choice supported by APA, APA supports the U.N. Convention's recognition of cultural diversity within the context of an overriding concern for children's welfare.
THEREFORE, the Council of Representatives endorses the principles and spirit of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child provided that the language is not used to limit freedom of reproductive choice as supported by the APA (Fox, 1990).
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