Women Vote for Force

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -linguist wrote: > Nancy Walker (lingu…@mychoice.net) writes in response: > I’m an Illinois resident. I’m acquainted with the step-daughter > of the woman in Roby Illinois who was beseiged by the police as > she resisted a court-ordered mental evaluation. I understand > that the ACLU has taken an interest in her case. Public opinion > has be stron in favor of her right to be "different." The step- > daughter, though, say that the women (Shirley Allen) was actually > reporting that she "heard voices"–tough call this one! I think we > need less "intervention" and more readily available support in the > form of counselling before things get to the severe stage. It seems > that counselling is for those who can afford to pay someone to be > a friend (friends are sometimes hard to come by!) We’ve lost the > sense of community, if we ever had it. > sylv…@netcom.com (Sylvia Caras) writes: > > > *** *** Women Vote For Force *** *** > > Action: Tell the League and Patsy White, what you > > think: > > California LWV Office: 73503.2…@compuserve.com > > California League of Women Voters Executive Vice > > President and Legislative/Program Director Patsy > > White: pats…@pacbell.net (valid June 19) > > California Web Minder: nvmk…@prodigy.com > > California Miscellaneous: l…@thecity.sfsu.edu > > *** *** Women Vote For Force *** *** > > The League of Women Voters (LWV) is collaborating with the > > pharmaceutically funded National Alliance for the Mentally > > Ill (NAMI/AMI) to further empower states to force medicate > > psychiatric patients. AMI is a family-organized advocacy > > group that supports a biological interpretation of behavior. > > The goal is to get the state LWV to support a mental health > > statement. The statement is prosocial on its face but > > neglects to exclude force. Its initiatives and endorsements > > are part of the NAMI strategy to change the law to make it > > easier to force treat inpatient and outpatient by setting a > > lesser standard for coercive medical intervention. > > Since two thirds of women who use public mental health > > services have been sexually abused as children, and women > > over 65 receive the most unconsented electro-shock, the > > League friendship with NAMI seems to contrary to other > > women’s interests and prosocial interests generally. > > In California, only family advocacy material accompanies a > > proposal for statewide concurrence for a League-endorsed > > mental health position. The California League cites NAMI as > > an authoritative source, only circulating the NAMI-created > > lobbying "fact sheet" as input for League members to use for > > voting on the proposal. The Santa Cruz *Voter* has excerpted > > sensational articles from the *California Journal* without > > noting that the Journal grew out of and spun off from the > > California AMI (CAMI). > > Though the concurrence proposal is bland on its face, > > careful reading reveals how it incorporates NAMI lobbying > > strategy. For instance, "case management’ can translate > > into outpatient commitment, a proposal that was defeated > > last year in the U S Congress. > > The California partnership with the League of Women Voters > > is part of the NAMI plan to change state and national law to > > make it easier to force medicate. NAMI has launched a > > Treatment Advocacy Center to change "current policies and > > practices (which) hamper treatment". Though the umbrella > > group is run on member dues, NAMI is organized into a series > > of non-profits which are well funded by the pharmaceutical > > industry. > > Missouri and other states report similar initiatives. But > > in a phone message May 29 to the U S League office, Cathy > > Sullivan stated she was unaware of these actions. I > > received no reply to my June 20 fax to Patsy White in San > > Francisco nor to my November phone call to Linda Fawcett in > > Santa Cruz. > > Pro-pharmacy NAMI continues to battle the anti-psychiatry > > Scientologists. NAMI champion E Fuller Torrey blames mental > > health consumer human rights supporters for the street > > deaths of the US homeless. Now NAMI is using the League > > —

Amen to your comment on need for more friends and community, Sylvia! With enough of the right kind of those, we would put the shrinks out of business. Robin

Response:

*** *** Women Vote For Force *** *** Action: Tell the League and Patsy White, what you think: California LWV Office: 73503.2…@compuserve.com California League of Women Voters Executive Vice President and Legislative/Program Director Patsy White: pats…@pacbell.net (valid June 19) California Web Minder: nvmk…@prodigy.com California Miscellaneous: l…@thecity.sfsu.edu *** *** Women Vote For Force *** *** The League of Women Voters (LWV) is collaborating with the pharmaceutically funded National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI/AMI) to further empower states to force medicate psychiatric patients. AMI is a family-organized advocacy group that supports a biological interpretation of behavior. The goal is to get the state LWV to support a mental health statement. The statement is prosocial on its face but neglects to exclude force. Its initiatives and endorsements are part of the NAMI strategy to change the law to make it easier to force treat inpatient and outpatient by setting a lesser standard for coercive medical intervention. Since two thirds of women who use public mental health services have been sexually abused as children, and women over 65 receive the most unconsented electro-shock, the League friendship with NAMI seems to contrary to other women’s interests and prosocial interests generally. In California, only family advocacy material accompanies a proposal for statewide concurrence for a League-endorsed mental health position. The California League cites NAMI as an authoritative source, only circulating the NAMI-created lobbying "fact sheet" as input for League members to use for voting on the proposal. The Santa Cruz *Voter* has excerpted sensational articles from the *California Journal* without noting that the Journal grew out of and spun off from the California AMI (CAMI). Though the concurrence proposal is bland on its face, careful reading reveals how it incorporates NAMI lobbying strategy. For instance, "case management’ can translate into outpatient commitment, a proposal that was defeated last year in the U S Congress. The California partnership with the League of Women Voters is part of the NAMI plan to change state and national law to make it easier to force medicate. NAMI has launched a Treatment Advocacy Center to change "current policies and practices (which) hamper treatment". Though the umbrella group is run on member dues, NAMI is organized into a series of non-profits which are well funded by the pharmaceutical industry. Missouri and other states report similar initiatives. But in a phone message May 29 to the U S League office, Cathy Sullivan stated she was unaware of these actions. I received no reply to my June 20 fax to Patsy White in San Francisco nor to my November phone call to Linda Fawcett in Santa Cruz. Pro-pharmacy NAMI continues to battle the anti-psychiatry Scientologists. NAMI champion E Fuller Torrey blames mental health consumer human rights supporters for the street deaths of the US homeless. Now NAMI is using the League reputation for fairness to forward the NAMI forced treatment agenda. I would be interested to know how this happened. Another NAMI strategy is to use the media to generate fear when parents tell sensational stories about their "violent" and "gravely disabled" children. NAMI excludes as wrongly diagnosed any who have recovered. Even though a lot of parents may be sick of their kids, not many resort to totalizing public fear mongering. I feel helpless and angry and need your help to try the shine the light of outrage and shout the voice of another truth. Help maintain the human rights of people who experience mood swings, fear, voices and visions. (And yes, there’s probably almost as much "spin" in this posting as there is in the NAMI material.) Let the League know what you think of their endorsement of AMI’s positions. Circulate this message to others who might be interested. ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() League of Women Voters Los Angeles County Mental Health Position Proposed for California Statewide League Concurrence MENTAL HEALTH CARE (adopted 1989): Support for an adequately funded mental health care system which provides comprehensive services to the acutely, chronically and seriously mentally ill of all ages; maintains optimal mental health services for all clients; places emphasis on meeting the needs of children; offers mental health services for the homeless; seeks additional funds for preventive services; implements a master plan to integrate services; raises awareness of critical unmet needs; and emphasizes case management. Careful readers will note the code: "services for the homeless" means diagnosing homelessness as mental illness; "integrated services" means contingent services, no housing or food without medication compliance; "unmet needs" means commitment on a lesser standard, ‘likely to become’; "case management’ can translate into outpatient commitment. ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Action: Tell Patsy White, California League of Women Voters Executive Vice President and Legislative/Program Director what you think: voice: 415 382 7748 fax: 415 382 8326 Internet: pats…@pacbell.net (valid June 19) League of Women Voters of California 926 J Street, Suite 515 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 442-7215 – FAX (916) 442-7362 73503.2…@compuserve.com http://www.ca.lwv.org/ League of Women Voters of the U.S. 1730 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 (202) 429-1965 – FAX (202) 429-0854 75300.3…@compuserve.com ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Of related interest: IL spent $1 million this fall and held a woman hostage in her own home for 39 days to force a family initiated court order for a psychiatric evaluation. The full story from the IL State Journal-Register at http://www.sj-r.com/ ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() — ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sylv…@netcom.com v/f:408 426 5335 … respect to self and others … %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Response:

Filed under: Lobbying

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