The Department of Health and Human Services, led by "vaccine skeptic and peddler of junk science" RFK, Jr., is planning to cut the 988 National Suicide and Crisis Hotline's program serving LGBTQ youth, which in February received 2100 contacts a day. The news comes from a leaked draft of the HHS budget that's set to go into effect this October, if passed by Congress. The hotline was created in 2022 and connects callers with counselors who are specifically trained to work with LGBTQ youth–who, according to Mother Jones, are four times more likely than their peers to attempt suicide. Mother Jones provides more details about the numbers of people the hotline has served and about the ramifications of the proposed cuts:
The service for LGBTQ youth has received 1.3 million calls, texts, or chats since 2022 . . .
"Here we are cutting off the nation's lifeline to those in crisis," says Paolo del Vecchio, former director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration's Office of Recovery. "Due to the discriminatory practices of the Trump administration, they're pulling that life preserver away from thousands and thousands of people" . . .
"I worry deeply that we will see more LGBTQ young people reach a crisis state and not have anyone there to help them through that," says Janson Wu, director of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, a LGBTQ suicide prevention organization. "I worry that LGBTQ young people will reach out to 988 and not receive a compassionate and welcoming voice on the other end—and that will only deepen their crisis."
Epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, Chief Epidemiologist and Director of the Epidemiology and Prevention Task Force at the New England Complex Systems Institute, expressed his concerns about the slashing of this counseling service more bluntly, stating that this move "is metaphorically telling LGBTQ youth they can go kill themselves."
Just when I think this administration can't go any lower, they find a way to be even more cruel and sadistic.
