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Connecticut’s Senator Dodd Refuses Parents call to Co-sponsor “The Child Medication Safety Act of 2003”

Contact information:
Sheila Matthews                (203) 966-8419
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org

The national grassroots organization, AbleChild: Parents for Label and Drug Free Education (www.AbleChild.org) announced that Connecticut’s Senator Dodd has refused to co-sponsor Senate Bill 1390, “The Child Medication Safety Act of 2003”. This anti-coercion bill would ensure that schools, operating under federally funded programs, do not demand that a child be “medicated” as a requisite of attending school.

Dodd’s refusal to co-sponsor this bill was highly disappointing to the national parent organization, particularly given the fact that Connecticut was the first state to implement legislation prohibiting parents from being coerced to drug their children. Subsequently, Connecticut set the precedent for parents’ rights, prompting 6 states to pass similar legislation and the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Child Medication Safety Act by 425 to one.

While certain mental health vested interests have tried to say the issue of coerced child drugging is “anecdotal”, AbleChild: Parents for Label and Drug Free Education say that this is simply a diversionary tactic — meant to minimize widespread systemic abuse. The organization has gathered over 400 signatures from parents across the U.S. who attest to the fact that they personally have been pressured, coerced or forced to administer psychiatric drugs to their children as a pre-requisite for attending school.

Ms. Sheila Matthews, the National Vice President of AbleChild: Parents for Label and Drug Free Education, said that Senator Dodd’s office was made aware of these 400 signatures. “I personally contacted Senator Dodd’s office and informed them that our grassroots organization, with very little promotion other than word of mouth, gathered over 400 signatures of parents from across the country who have experienced this abuse. We have parent’s signatures that are from states, which have in fact passed legislation prohibiting schools from coerced drugging, yet the pressure continues because there is no set accountability for violations of these laws. This fact is exactly why we need federal protections — because there must be accountability — there must be financial penalties for federally funded agencies, namely schools, that completely disregard a parent’s right to raise their child drug free.”

Surprisingly, Senator Dodd said in his recent press release on the Drug Trafficking Grants awarded to the City of Norwalk, “No amount of money can do as much as a caring parent, teacher or neighbor to prevent kids from falling into unhealthy behaviors that include violence and substance abuse”. Sadly, Senator Dodd has failed to hear the cries from those “caring parents” asking for assistance in co-sponsoring this important bill, which directly relates to controlled substances.

AbleChild encourages all Connecticut residences to stand up for those who don’t have a voice, and urge Senator Dodd to sign on as a co-sponsor to this landmark legislation, so that every parent has the inalienable right to refuse to administer potentially addicting, dangerous and even life threatening drugs to their children. This organization has members whose children have died due to coerced psychiatric drugging, and as parents, they stress that we simply must not allow this abuse to continue.

To find out more about child abuse and child death from coerced child drugging, log onto https://www.ablechild.org and read the testimonies of Mr. Larry Smith, Vice President for AbleChild Michigan, and Mrs. Vicky Dunkle, Vice President for AbleChild Pennsylvania. The petitions signatures are also available for viewing.