Where Do The Presidential Candidates Stand On Mental Health:Republicans

As I write this, there are four Republican Presidential candidates. Wondering where they stand on mental health issues? Keep reading to find out.

Donald Trump-

"We must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence, mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun". 

That is a quote that our President, Donald Trump made in reference to gun reform in August 2019. He may claim that he wants to make changes to our current mental health laws, but moves coming out of the White House are actually making it more difficult to obtain adequate mental health care, critics say. Trump wants to "get rid of" the Affordable Care Act which requires insurers to cover mental health care services, and prevents insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing condiotions, which most mental health conditions are. In mid-August 2019, Trump said that he wants to open mental health institutions to address mass shootings, which is an idea he has promoted in the past. He is adament that mental health is the cause of mass shootings, even though mental health professionals insist that those with mental health conditions are non-violent. Also in August of 2019 Trump said this,

"Years ago many cities and states I rememeber so well closed mental institutions for budgetary reasons....We're going to have to give major consideration to building new facilities to those in need, we have to do it. And at the same time we will be taking mentally derranged and dangerous prople off the streets so we won't have to worry so much about that, a big problem. We don't have those insttitutions anymore and people can't get proper care".*

*Sidenote-That statement from Trump was really tough to type. I just wanted to say for the record that I did not make any mistakes when typing that. That is exactly how he said the quote. I know, it's exhausting. 

I couldnt find anything specific regarding Trump's stance on mental health other than his view that mental health issues are the cause for mass shootings and that he wants to take "mentally derranged and dangerous" people off of the street to institionalize them.

Mark Sanford-

Like Trump, Sanford also wants to say goodbye to the Affordable Care Act, but he wants to replace it with private insurance options. He claims that this will help people with pre-existing conditions and those who have seen a dramatic increase to their health care costs. However, I cannot find exactly why he thinks this. I wasn't able to find any information regarding mental health, except that he wants to require women to undergo a psychiatric evaluation prior to having an abortion.

Bill Weld-

I cannot find anything specific regarding Bill Welds mental health stance. As far as general health care, he expanded Medicaid access while the Governor of Massachusetts. Also, he asked the Federal government for a boost in funding to his state for Medicaid.

Joe Walsh-

Walsh wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but he thinks that there should be a replacement before repealing. He agrees with Trump that mental health is the cause of the rise of mass shootings. He voted to cut off funding to implement Health Care Reform law in 2011. He voted against prioritizing underserved communities when funding health centers. Walsh opposed requiring coverage for pre-existing conditions.