by Lauren Schwartz

Created on: December 22, 2008

George W. Bush's perception of human rights is recognized by his Administration during his two terms in office, they've just found ways to circumvent the protection of these rights. Beginning with the Patriot Act in 2001, the Bush Administration detained individuals, indefinitely, while denying them the right to habeas corpus and subjecting these prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment. Conveniently, these detention facilities are located off United States soil, so the Constitution does not technically apply; but isn't that the point?

The Bush administration has explicitly violated civil rights, protected in the U.S. Constitution, by use of wiretapping. It was claimed to be necessary to infiltrate foreign terrorist attacks. This turned into an invasion of privacy when it came to light that wiretapping was being used on domestic phone conversations. This gained media attention because not only was the Bush administration violating human rights, they were violating the fourth amendment; a Constitutional guarantee that Americans were protected from search and seizer without a warrant.

More recently, the Bush administration has released ruling that takes away a woman's right over her body. This ruling is not about abortion, but pertains to contraception and health care that millions of women rely on. According to the latest regulation, health care providers are allowed to deny medicine, important medical information, and even medical care based on the provider's religious beliefs. In other words, if a woman goes to fill a prescription for hormonal birth control, which her doctor prescribed for menopause therapy, the Pharmacist can deny her medical treatment on the basis that he does not believe in birth control and therefore will not provide the woman with a prescription that may be considered an abortion medicine, on the discretion of the pharmacist.

Human welfare, which falls under the definition of human rights, is dangerously ignored, if not willfully violated. Torture violates the Geneva Convention, the United States Consitution, and many other global contracts. However, waterboarding has become a the norm in the unlawful detention of individuals. Governement training centers, which use torture tactics in their training against sucumbing to enemy threats, have recently made public statement in opposition to use of cruel and violent interrogation tactics mployed by the Bush Administrations. Secret Government agents, such as Valerie Plame, have been publicly identified in reponse to her husband opposition on the Bush Administration's tactics. Putting her safety in jeopardy, a domestic official whose responsibility it is to protect human rights of Americans, was used against her with the intention of putting her in harm's way.

On the national level, human rights have been demolished by the Bush Administration. From the many violations that resulted from the Patriot Act, to the health of American individuals, the last eight years can be interpreted as an eight year attack on the human rights individuals have long appreciated.

Learn more about this author, Lauren Schwartz.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.