A United Nations treaty to ban discrimination against people with disabilities went down to defeat in the Senate on Tuesday in a 61-38 vote.

The treaty backed by President Obama and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kansas) fell 5 votes short of the two-thirds needed for confirmation as dozens of Senate Republicans objected that it would create new abortion rights and impede the ability of people to home-school disabled children.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) argued the treaty would infringe on U.S. sovereignty, an argument echoed by other opponents.

Supporters of the treaty argued that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would simply require the rest of the world to meet the standards that Americans already enjoy under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. …

Hawaii Sens. Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka voted in favor of the treaty.

—Chad Blair

Photo courtesy Clément G.