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MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
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Psycho Feds Target Children
By Rep. Ron Paul, MD
Every parent in America should be made aware of a
presidential initiative called the "New Freedom Commission on Mental
Health." This commission issued a report last year calling for the
mandatory mental health screening of American schoolchildren, meaning millions
of kids will be forced to undergo psychiatric screening whether their parents
consent or not. At issue is the fundamental right of parents to decide what
medical treatment is appropriate for their children.
Forced mental health screening simply has no place in a free or decent
society. The government does not own you or your kids, and it has no legitimate
authority to interfere in your family's intimate health matters. Psychiatric
diagnoses are inherently subjective, and the drugs regularly prescribed produce
serious side effects, especially in children's developing brains. The bottom
line is that mental health issues are a matter for parents, children, and their
doctors, not government.
Unfortunately, however, the mental health screening initiative received
funding from House and Senate appropriators in the 2005 federal budget. This
funding allows states to create or expand mental health screening programs with
your tax dollars. More importantly, the commission recommends a broader federal
program in the near future.
Last fall I introduced an amendment to eliminate any funding for the
proposal in a year-end spending bill. Although the amendment failed, the
response to my office was overwhelming and highly supportive. The notion of
federal bureaucrats ordering potentially millions of youngsters to take
psychotropic drugs like Ritalin strikes an emotional chord with American
parents, who are sick of relinquishing more and more parental control to
government.
Accordingly, the first bill I introduced this year forbids federal funds
from being used for any mental-health screening of students without the
express, written, voluntary, informed consent of their parents. The bill is
known as "The Parental Consent Act of 2005," or HR 181. This
legislation strikes a vital blow for parents who oppose government interference
with their parental authority, and strengthens the fundamental right of parents
to direct and control the upbringing and education of their children.
It is important to understand that powerful interests, namely federal
bureaucrats and pharmaceutical lobbies, are behind the push for mental health
screening in schools. There is no end to the bureaucratic appetite to run our
lives, and the pharmaceutical industry is eager to sell psychotropic drugs to
millions of new customers in American schools. Only tremendous public
opposition will suffice to overcome the lobbying and bureaucratic power behind
the president's New Freedom Commission.
Your help is needed. Please tell everyone you know about HR 181, and ask
them to call their representatives and senators in Washington to voice strong opposition to
forced mental health screening. Demand that the Department of Health and Human
Services receive no tax dollars in this year's appropriation bill for screening
programs, and that states receive no federal dollars for programs of their own.
Refer to my congressional website for articles from September 2004 about mental
health screening, and sobering statistics about anti-depressant drugs and kids
in the text of HR 181. Most of all, talk with your friends, family, and
colleagues about the underlying issue of whether the state owns your kids.
Remind them that freedom can be maintained only when state power is limited,
especially when it comes to fundamental freedoms over our bodies and minds.
Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.