60 million
people in the U.S. struggled with their mental health
according to data from 2022, seeking counseling or other
treatment. That's approximately 18% of the country's
population. Now all 60 million are at risk
because last week, Trump signed an executive order that
effectively made it a crime to have a mental illness,
struggle with substance use, or be unhoused.
And the punishment for
those supposed crimes could be both forced
institutionalization without consent, and loss of
privacy rights over their own sensitive health
data.
The executive order would give
Attorney General Pam Bondi the authority to demand
that non-profits hand over individuals' sensitive,
private health data — and even demand that they
share this data with law enforcement agencies such as
police or ICE.
The order
also cuts funding for evidence-based programs
that help people who are struggling, such as
harm-reduction and housing initiatives. And it comes in
the wake of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act, which cut
$1 trillion in Medicaid, leading to the closure of free
health clinics, food banks, and homeless shelters,
especially in rural areas. So at the same time that
Congress has been cutting helpful resources, Trump is
attempting to reroute that money towards criminalization
and forced institutionalization.
Experts and
non-profits are already sounding the alarm about how
this executive order could be laying the
groundwork to criminalize and round up other groups
of people too — such as trans folks or their parents.
How much worse will this get? Who else will be
impacted next? How much will this escalate and
intensify?
U.S. states should stand up to
this deeply disturbing power grab and dehumanization of
everyday Americans. They must not allow these forced
institutionalizations, this criminalization, or
surveillance and data collection. Sign the petition to
demand that each U.S. state refuse to comply with this
harrowing executive order.
From: Celeste S., Care2
Action Alerts <action...@care2.com>