GPCA endorses "Abolish Forced Psychiatry" and calls for disability justice and non-coercive mental health

The Green Party of California today announces its endorsement of the "Abolish Forced Psychiatry" statement, joining a growing coalition of disability rights activists and psychiatric survivors calling for an end to coercive psychiatric practices and the establishment of truly supportive alternatives for people experiencing emotional distress.

The Green Party of California hereby endorses the call to abolish all involuntary psychiatric and psychological interventions, including forced hospitalizations, forced drugging, and related coercive practices. We stand with those who have experienced trauma through forced treatment and recognize that compassionate, evidence-based alternatives exist that honor human dignity and autonomy.

This endorsement aligns directly with GPCA's Ten Key Values and platform commitments. Our principle that "all human beings must be allowed a say in decisions that affect their lives; no one should be subject to the will of another" is fundamentally incompatible with forced psychiatric interventions. Our commitment to non-violence demands that we reject institutional violence disguised as treatment.

The "Abolish Forced Psychiatry" statement calls for ending all legal and social discrimination based on psychiatric diagnostic labeling, establishing non-coercive supports including community mutual aid and peer support, rejecting the criminalization of social problems and disability, and addressing the root causes of emotional distress through ending poverty and promoting disability justice.

Recent developments like California's Proposition 1, which provides no alternatives to forced treatment while deceptively promising housing solutions, demonstrate the urgent need for this advocacy. Despite opposition from Disability Rights California, Cal Voices, Mental Health America of California, and the ACLU, Prop 1 passed, highlighting how authoritarian approaches continue to be promoted over evidence-based alternatives.

The psychiatric survivor movement has long challenged the false choice between "force or neglect." Compassionate, voluntary support systems can effectively meet people's needs during emotional crises and have a proven evidence base. The voices of people harmed by forced psychiatric intervention are, too often drowned out bythe pharmaceutical industry narratives that dominate our media, and these voices deserve to be heard and honored.

The Green Party of California recognizes that true social justice requires addressing the root causes of emotional distress – poverty, social isolation, discrimination, and systemic oppression – rather than responding with force and coercion. We call for investment in community-based supports, peer-run services, and voluntary alternatives that treat people with dignity and respect their fundamental human rights.

We urge other organizations and individuals to join this growing movement by signing onto the "Abolish Forced Psychiatry" statement at www.abolishforcedpsychiatry.org.

The full text of the Abolish Forced Psychiatry statement:

Abolish all involuntary psychiatric and psychological interventions, including forced hospitalizations, forced drugging, and related coercive practices.

End all legal and social discrimination based on psychiatric or psychological diagnostic labeling or actual or perceived disability.

Establish non-coercive supports and services for people when they experience emotional distress or life crises, including, but not limited to community mutual aid, peer support, voluntary crisis sanctuaries, as well as the right to voluntarily access all mainstream services and affordable housing free of coercion.

Reject the criminalization and forced psychiatrization of social problems, difference, disability, and struggles for survival.

Recognize the social and economic causes of emotional distress, and work to meet everyone’s basic needs in the community, including ending poverty, overcoming social exclusion, and promoting disability justice, human rights, and carceral system transformation.

For more information about GPCA's platform on disability rights and healthcare, visit www.cagreens.org/platform.