I would like tentatively to share the insights of Ms. Grace serves, senior associate for international social issues for The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center.
His commentary originally appeared in The Daily Signal.
Congress is considering several bills that would warp how the U.S. applies sanctions—through the Global Magnitsky Act—against foreigners who violate human rights. The changes would redefine human rights to enforce the left’s abortion-and-gender agenda. That would hobble the fight against real abuses of human rights.
This problem has already appeared in trade bills related to Russia and Belarus. The legislation would replace the current definition of human rights abuses with a new undefined term. The current standard in the Global Magnitsky Act is “gross violation of human rights.” If revised, this would become “human rights abuses and corruption” or “serious human rights abuses.”
But what is a human right? And which rights are we protecting?