| Karen's NewsLetter |
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Hi from Karen. Here are the hottest issues on my desk right now:
****************************************************************************** Bush Plans to Screen All US Citizens for Mental Health ****************************************************************************** *** EXTREMELY URGENT! ACTION ALERT!!! - *** BUSH WANTS TO SCREEN ALL U.S. CITIZENS FOR MENTAL ILLNESS The House Appropriations Committee Funds President’s New Freedom Commission Initiative That Includes Plan To Screen All U.S. Citizens For Mental Illness - TELL CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE: NO MANATORY MENTAL-HEALTH SCREENING OF CHILDREN AND NO FORCED DRUGGING of CHILDREN AND NO FUNDING FOR THIS PLAN! From: Cassandra - cassandra2@relaypoint.net - Subject: Say NO to Mental Health Screening!! ************************************************************* ACTION ALERT November 17, 2004 -Your efforts are paying off! After over 7,600 messages from us(!), the House leadership supports the Paul language prohibiting the funding of mandatory mental-health screening. In fact, key members of the House leadership attempted to add Dr. Paul's language to the omnibus spending bill, but some members of the Senate objected. So now the question of whether your kids can be subjected to forced psychological testing -- and perhaps even forced drugging -- rests in the hands of the U.S. Senate. We have little time left. The final version of the omnibus spending bill will likely be agreed upon this Friday morning. Between now and then, we must convince senators to add Congressman Paul's language to it. Just as we convinced the House leadership to support the Paul language, we must now go to work to convince the Senate. Urge your two U.S. senators to support the Paul language to the omnibus spending bill. The language is as follows: "None of the funds made available for State incentive grants for transformation should be used for any programs of mandatory or universal mental-health screening that performs mental-health screening on anyone under 18 years of age without the express, written permission of the parents or legal guardians of each individual involved." Here's the checklist: 1. Call your two U.S. senators. The main Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121. 2. Send a message to your senators. Go to: http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/alert/?alertid=6664601&type=CO 3. Spread the word. Your efforts paid off in the U.S. House. We must take the next step and convince the U.S. Senate. "No Child Left Behind" must not become "No Child Left Undrugged." Kent Snyder The Liberty Committee http://www.thelibertycommittee.org ************************************************************* Dear Friends, I am forwarding this for CCHR International. Please help out--schedule some time on Monday to make the phone calls needed!! Love, Cassandra EXTREMELY URGENT! ACTION ALERT!!! The U.S. House of Representatives', Appropriations Committee, approved funding of the President's "New Freedom Commission Initiative" that includes plan to screen all U.S. citizens for mental illness!!!!! On July 14th, the House Appropriations Committee approved $20 million in new federal dollars to begin implementation of the plans set forth by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC) to get every man, woman and child in America "screened" for "mental illness." This campaign for national mental health "screening" will result in millions more Americans being diagnosed with fraudulent and unscientific mental "disorders", and prescribed dangerous and deadly psychiatric drugs. Nationwide implementation of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's plan is the beginning of a Big Brother, "Brave New World" should the U.S. Senate agree with House to fund this. More details about the plan and its dangerous consequences are at bottom of this email, but here is what all of us need to do: We, you, me, all of us, must tell Congress and the White House: NO MENTAL SCREENINGS FOR AMERICANS AND NO FUNDING FOR THIS PLAN! WHO TO CALL AND WHAT TO DO: 1) Call the White House: 202-456-1111 2) Call Speaker of the House, Rep. Hastert: 202-225-2976 3) Call the Senate Leader, Senator Frist: 202-224-3344 4) Call the House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner at 202-225-6205 5) Call the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Judd Gregg at 202-224-3324 Tell them you oppose any federal, state, or local plans for universal mental health screening. Tell them to STOP funding this New Freedom Commission on Mental Health plan in the Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill. These calls are fast and brief. The aide who answers will take your message and forward it on. It's important that there are large numbers of calls, so please do this and get other to do so as well. Additional actions to take: 1) Call your own Members of Congress (go to www.congress.org) 2) Alert your state legislators and oppose any school board initiatives to add psychiatric screening programs. 3) Support the Child Medication Act (S. 1390) currently stalled in the Senate by Senator Edward Kennedy - This legislation prohibits schools from coercing parents to place their children on psychiatric medications that are on the controlled substances list. Senator Kennedy, with large support from pharmaceutical companies, has not let this very modest proposal even receive a hearing, saying that it needs more study. Senator Kennedy (202-224-4543) as well as Senator Gregg (202-224-3324) the Committee chairman, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (202-224-3344) need to hear from the public. 4) Check to see if your state has a provision in state special education law that prohibits a school district from overriding parental refusal to submit their child to a special education or mental health evaluation. If yes, alert other parents, and if not, work for one. Thank you for yout help on this urgent matter. - Peter Dockx - Government Affairs - CCHR International More Details: The Commission based its entire findings on the definition of mental illness as defined by psychiatry's billing bible, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The methods of mental health "screening" recommended by the New Freedom Commission are lists of arbitrary questions based on this DSM. If this "sweeping mental health initiative" is implemented, millions more Americans will certainly be diagnosed and drugged given the subjective diagnoses. FACTS: ** The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's report states that "mental illnesses are shockingly common," but neglects to address or even mention the fact that there is no medical or scientific means by which to diagnose mental "illnesses." Psychiatrists and mental health proponents promote psychiatric "disorders" as a disease, or an illness that can be diagnosed in the same manner as real physical illness. This is a fraud. There are no blood tests, brain scans or chemical imbalance tests to validate any mental disorder as an illness or "disease." With no scientific/medical criteria to substantiate these claims, anyone could be diagnosed as mentally ill based solely on a checklist of behaviors. ** The DSM contains hundreds of psychiatric mental "disorders" which are a list of behavioral symptoms that are literally voted into existence and inserted into the DSM. Such diagnoses include "Caffeine-Related Disorder," "Mathematics Disorder," "Disorder of Written Expression," and the all-encompassing "Phase of Life Problem." These "disorders" are simply a classification of symptoms that are drastically different from, and foreign to, anything in medicine.\ ** The New Freedom Commission is blatantly promoting the coercive and manipulative tactics that have led to millions of children being falsely labeled with mental disorders in our public schools. Schools have become mental health clinics where children are diagnosed based on subjective questionnaires, instead of given proven educational solutions. This fact was substantiated by a report from the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, which found that 2.4 million children had been diagnosed with mental "disorders" and placed in Special Education, when in fact these children had simply not been taught to read. ** The issue of coerced child drugging in public schools has become so prevalent that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Child Medication Safety Act in May 2003, to prevent schools from forcing a parent to drug their child as a condition of attending school. ** Due to psychiatric influence, parents have been reported to Child Protective Services and charged with medical neglect for refusing to give their child a psychiatric drug, such as those currently under investigation for causing suicidal reactions. Parents have been charged with "medical neglect" for refusing psychiatric treatment - despite the fact that there is no scientific proof that there is anything medically wrong with the child. ** In a recent report by Allen Jones, a former investigator in the Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General (OIG), Bureau of Special Investigations, condemning the New Freedom Commission (NFC), he states, "Despite a nearly 500% increase in American children being prescribed mental health drugs during the past 6 years, the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health found that not enough adolescents are benefiting from mental health treatment. The NFC recommendations prominently call for mandatory mental health screening for all high school students, with follow-up 'treatment' as required - this means more kids on mind-altering and potentially lethal psychiatric drugs." CALL TO ACTION! President Bush has been duped by the psychiatric industry to support an initiative to have EVERY American screened for mental illness. This initiative is not to help society but to troll for more victims to put on psychiatric mind-altering medication. It is Big Brother all the way. This is not something to ignore. You can help prevent this. The first step is to push through the U.S. Senate, The Child Medication Safety Act, which has already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 425-1. If this bill is passed by the Senate it will be a big blow against psychiatric totalitarianism. Ted Kennedy is STOPPING (he says 'delay to give it more consideration') The Child Medication Safety Act from becoming law. Read the article below. The issue was clear enough to 425 of our elected representatives, they didn't need to 'delay' it. They acted. It's time Ted Kennedy does the same thing. Here's where you can do to make a huge impact: 1. Call, fax, or email Ted Kennedy and tell him that you want The Child Medication Safety Act to pass. No parent should be coerced into drugging their kid. Calls and faxes are the best. When you call, an aide will answer the phone. Tell the aide why your calling and who you are. It will take 2 minutes. The flood of calls will have an impact. Phone: 1(202) 224-4543 Fax: (202) 224-2417 Emails have far less significance. The best is to call, fax and email. Email: kennedy.senate.gov/contact.html 2. Call, fax, or email again a few days later. 3. Pass this email and Call to Action to your friends. Encourage them to call Kennedy and get him to pass this bill. Thanks for your help, Mike p.s. I know it's easy to delete this email, but the 5 minutes it will take you to do this is vital. Numbers of calls is what gets noticed. If you are not already subscribed and you would like to receive future emails like this one re psychiatry and its effects on society, click on *** Kennedy Ties Up The Child Medication Safety Act *** WASHINGTON -- A bill banning schools from coercing parents into putting their children on psychotropic drugs, passed with near-universal support in the House, is being tied up in a Senate committee by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who contends it requires more study. Supporters of the bill, which sailed through the House 425 to 1, said it will help prevent an epidemic of children on drugs like Ritalin and Prozac, and that Kennedy is being influenced by his longstanding ties to health and pharmaceutical associations, which contend the bill will discourage the diagnosis of mental illnesses that could be easily treated. The Child Medication Safety Act has sat in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions all year. Proponents say Senate leaders never told them why the bill had not come up for a vote, but this week Kennedy, who is the committee's ranking member, confirmed to the Globe that he is seeking to delay its consideration. ''This is a complex question that demands a serious study," Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said in a statement. ''Until we know the extent of the problem, any further action is unwarranted." The bill was prompted by complaints from parents that school officials were threatening to keep their children out of class unless they took behavior-altering medication. About 11 million schoolchildren and adolescents took prescription drugs for mental health in 2002, and the number is rising. The bill denies federal funds to schools that fail to implement a policy to ''protect children and their parents from being coerced into administering a controlled substance in order to attend school, and for other purposes," such as extracurricular activities. Among the drugs it targets are behavioral drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin and antidepressants such as Prozac and Paxil. Prozac is the only antidepressant approved by the Federal Drug Administration for people under 18, and the FDA is expected this summer to release a study on whether antidepressants increase the risk of suicide. If the bill fails to make it onto a tight Senate scheduled squeezed by two national conventions and an August recess, it would have to return to the House next year. Representative Max Burns, Republican of Georgia and sponsor of the bill in the House, said that he will meet with the House leadership next week to explore ways to pressure the Senate to bring the bill to the floor. ''It's hard to be optimistic because it has been there for over a year," he said. ''[But] we need to find a way to shake this bill loose." Kennedy's office said that it is important to separate the roles of schools and doctors but that any legislation limiting schools' ability to push for treatment of children with mental-health issues should wait until further study of the benefits and detriments of psychiatric drugs. Libby Nealis, director of public policy for the National Association of School Psychologists, said that her organization has been fighting the law and is confident that it will not pass. Nealis called the bill a ''knee-jerk reaction to anecdotal stories" and said it would deter schools from discussing crucial mental health information with parents. The battle over schools' role in recommending psychiatric drugs has been fought on the state level for years. Nine states have already passed or introduced legislation prohibiting schools from threatening to limit children's participation in classes or activities if they do not go on medication. Personal stories have sparked political activism. Sheila Matthews of New Canaan, Conn., said she was told by a school psychologist that her son had attention deficit disorder and that psychiatric drugs was his only alternative. In response, she helped found Parents for Label & Drug Free Education, an organization advocating parents' rights to refuse medical treatment for their children. Ablechild now has almost 200 members and has launched a petition supporting the bill. Matthews said that she has frequently contacted Kennedy's office about the bill and believes his appeal for research is a cover for his support for health and pharmaceutical groups. Since 1999, Kennedy has received $171,601 in campaign contributions from health professionals and $97,050 from the pharmaceutical and health-product industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But Dr. Harold Koplewicz, director of the New York University Child Study Center, said Kennedy's opposition is warranted: The bill would undermine the detection of children with mental health problems, a pressing concern when 80 percent of cases go undetected. ''There is no medicine in all of pediatrics that has been tested as many times as Ritalin," he said. ''We have definitive evidence that it's an effective treatment." CHICAGO - This week, a series of public forums on a program requiring all pregnant women and children through age 18 years to be tested for mental health needs is being held this week in five different locations statewide. One group of parents learned about the state's plans to proceed with this program and on Monday issued an alarm asking for parents and citizens concerned about the new program to voice their opinions at the forums. "We're moving toward social training over academic training with this program," Larry Trainor, a Mt. Prospect parent of four children and a contact for Citizens Commission on Human Rights, based in Los Angeles, said today. "Since psychiatric involvement in education, SAT scores have gone down for the past few decades. Evaluating mental conditions is not based on scientific evidence, it's subjective," he said. The $10 million plan for the setup of the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 is being considered at this week's public forums starting Monday, July 18 in Champaign. Signed into law, the bill passed the Illinois General Assembly last spring, sponsored in the House by State Representatives Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) and Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont). State Senator Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) and Susan Garrett (D-Highwood) shepherded the legislation through the Senate. The legislation passed the House with a 107 to 5 vote, and the Senate unanimously. "What if they find a student has a math disorder, a reading disorder. Would that be a mental health disorder, one that would cause the parents to put their children with a drug for a condition they may or may not have?" Trainor asked. The mental health program will develop a mental health system for "all children ages 0-18 years," provide for screening to "ensure appropriate and culturally relevant assessment of young children's social and emotional development with the use of standardized tools." Also, all pregnant women will be screened for depression and thereafter following her baby's birth, up to one year. Follow-up treatment services will also be provided. Trainor said that he is trying to get parents and citizens out to voice their opinion about the new program. Apparently, children's mental health will be assessed along with their academic standards in the new proposed testing. The Illinois State Board of Education has been given the responsibility to develop the appropriate tests, according to last year's legislation. The Task Force hosting the public forums this week are to send a recommendation to Governor Blagojevich by the end of the summer, according to the Act (HB 2900). Developing story . . . Thanks!! - Love, Debbie ******************************************************* More Information!!! ******************************************************* For more information, please visit: http://www.cchr.org http://www.drugawareness.org http://www.alternativementalhealth.com Love, Karen |