It's pretty simple really - the focus of The MOTHERS Act is nationwide screening. (See the language from last year - to ensure that mothers are screened, use of the word shall, etc. which we got removed from the bill: http://tinyurl.com/oak9l4 - in legal language, shall means must, so that is where the mandatory screening talk was coming from...)

Screening that could target pregnant women, women less than 2 weeks postpartum, women going to checkups and pediatrician visits... Subjective psychological screenings - the names of which have been undisclosed per the language of the bill because nobody wants to specify which screening tool will be used (i.e. whether it will be the EPDS which triples the number of women diagnosed, or something else, and whether that will be pharma-funded and some day wind up on a website for a specific company or drug promotion).

This means more mothers being "diagnosed" with a mental disorder or labeled "at risk."

This means more mothers being placed on drugs... (See: Study - Depression Awareness Campaign Significantly Increases Antidepressant Prescriptions http://tinyurl.com/dl2zkj)

More mothers placed on drugs that cause psychosis, hallucinations and suicidal / homicidal ideation just as they did for me.

More doctors and social workers and midwives and health workers feeling under pressure not to let a mom go "undiagnosed" / "untreated." More hospitals and police getting involved when women are severely depressed or experiencing psychotic effects of drugs. (To say that The MOTHERS Act will not result in more mothers being force drugged would be like saying that giving your pet turkey to a turkey farm in November will not result in that turkey being baked for Thanksgiving dinner. The bill still targets women and seeks to label them with mental disorders and get them into treatment. The realm of psychiatric treatment is one where force is commonplace, so to deny that force is an issue is not only absurd but obviously misled. Of course they are not going to state in the bill that the aim of the bill is to force treat mothers, but that doesn't change the fact that when you screen and drug more mothers, more mothers will wind up being force treated. This is called an "unintended consequence." Whether truly unintended or not, it's hard to say, but it's a consequence nonetheless.)

More mothers being made to think they are mentally ill when they are simply reacting to a dangerous drug.

More mothers being placed on drugs that they are told are safe for pregnancy or breastfeeding when in fact they are not. More mothers being force hospitalized, more mothers losing babies to drugs, more mothers committing suicide and infanticide and killing families, neighbors, and pets.

This is not a list of "accusations" - this is a list of consequences. Consequences that have been documented, things I have personally lived through, things babies have died for... These are all examples of situations that are going on right now that the pharmaceutical companies and mental health industry do not want to face. These are things that will only get worse under a nationwide screening / PPD mongering campaign.

So the next time you hear someone say that The MOTHERS Act is fine because there are no "mandatory" drugs and no "mandatory" screenings, I hope you'll think about women who are ALREADY being force treated, losing their babies, going insane on drugs, etc. I hope you think about them and how to help them keep from falling into that trap. 

The bottom line is that if you support The MOTHERS Act, you support women like Melanie Stokes leaping off 12th story window ledges, moms like me being forcibly separated from their newborns and locked up and drugged in mental hospitals... You support telling women like Christian Delahunty, Christiane Schultz, Julie Edgington, and Shelly Hart that Paxil and Effexor are safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding, and you support their babies being born with heart defects and PPHN, or their babies dying from SIDS or dying from PPHN two hours after birth.

If you support The MOTHERS Act you are supporting the pharmaceutical industry and psychiatric hospitals. You are not supporting mothers and babies.