SANTA FE, N.M., Feb. 8 (UPI) -- New Mexico has become the current venue for the national debate over whether mentally ill people who have not committed crimes can be forced into treatment.
The debate comes up as the state legislature considers a bill to make New Mexico the 43rd state with a law allowing family members, doctors or others to seek a court order forcing the mentally ill into outpatient treatment, The New York Times reports.
On the national scene, proponents have pushed laws that say if mentally ill people refuse the treatment, they can face confinement in a hospital. They see this as a pragmatic approach for those who have committed no crime but could harm themselves or others as their sickness worsens, the report says.
Opponents feel the laws infringe on the civil rights of the mentally ill, and note that most states have not provided enough resources for services needed by those forced into treatment.
In New Mexico, violent mentally ill patients can be committed to inpatient treatment at a psychiatric hospital for a certain period. But the proposed law is intended for the mentally ill who have not committed crimes and have resisted treatment.
