http://www.naturalnews.com/026187.html

Speech of Ron Paul, Introducing the Parental Consent Act
Saturday, May 02, 2009 by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Key concepts: Health, Parents and Ron Paul

Rep. Ron Paul has introduced the Parental Consent Act to
protect families from mandatory “mental health screening” — a thinly-veiled
attempt by Big Pharma to drug expectant mothers and new moms with dangerous
psychiatric drugs.

Here’s the full text of the speech given by Ron Paul in the House of
Representatives, April 30, 2009:

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Parental Consent Act. This bill
forbids Federal funds from being used for any universal or mandatory
mental-health screening of students without the express, written, voluntary,
informed consent of their parents or legal guardians. This bill protects the
fundamental right of parents to direct and control the upbringing and
education of their children.

The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has recommended that the federal
and state governments work toward the implementation of a comprehensive
system of mental-health screening for all Americans. The commission
recommends that universal or mandatory mental-health screening first be
implemented in public schools as a prelude to expanding it to the general
public. However, neither the commission’s report nor any related
mental-health screening proposal requires parental consent before a child is
subjected to mental-health screening. Federally-funded universal or
mandatory mental-health screening in schools without parental consent could
lead to labeling more children as “ADD” or “hyperactive” and thus force more
children to take psychotropic drugs, such as Ritalin, against their parents’
wishes.

Already, too many children are suffering from being prescribed psychotropic
drugs for nothing more than children’s typical rambunctious behavior.
According to Medco Health Solutions, more than 2.2 million children are
receiving more than one psychotropic drug at one time. In fact, according to
Medico Trends, in 2003, total spending on psychiatric drugs for children
exceeded spending on antibiotics or asthma medication.

Many children have suffered harmful side effects from using psychotropic
drugs. Some of the possible side effects include mania, violence,
dependence, and weight gain. Yet, parents are already being threatened with
child abuse charges if they resist efforts to drug their children. Imagine
how much easier it will be to drug children against their parents’ wishes if
a federally-funded mental-health screener makes the recommendation.

Universal or mandatory mental-health screening could also provide a
justification for stigmatizing children from families that support
traditional values. Even the authors of mental-health diagnosis manuals
admit that mental-health diagnoses are subjective and based on social
constructions. Therefore, it is all too easy for a psychiatrist to label a
person’s disagreement with the psychiatrist’ s political beliefs a mental
disorder. For example, a federally-funded school violence prevention program
lists “intolerance” as a mental problem that may lead to school violence.
Because “intolerance” is often a code word for believing in traditional
values, children who share their parents’ values could be labeled as having
mental problems and a risk of causing violence. If the mandatory
mental-health screening program applies to adults, everyone who believes in
traditional values could have his or her beliefs stigmatized as a sign of a
mental disorder. Taxpayer dollars should not support programs that may label
those who adhere to traditional values as having a “mental disorder.”

Madam Speaker, universal or mandatory mental-health screening threatens to
undermine parents’ right to raise their children as the parents see fit.
Forced mental-health screening could also endanger the health of children by
leading to more children being improperly placed on psychotropic drugs, such
as Ritalin, or stigmatized as “mentally ill” or a risk of causing violence
because they adhere to traditional values. Congress has a responsibility to
the nation’s parents and children to stop this from happening. I, therefore,
urge my colleagues to cosponsor the Parental Consent Act.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026187.html