Surgeon General calls for warning labels on social media platforms
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for warning labels on social media, citing concerns about children’s mental health.
More than 100 Congressional Democrats have signed a letter urging U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to scrub planned budget cuts that would eliminate crucial mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth, who face greater mental health challenges than their peers.
At stake are services offered through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which has fielded more than 13 million calls, texts and chats from across the U.S. and its territories since its inception. Created through a bipartisan measure signed into law by President Trump in 2020, the lifeline serves veterans and non-English speakers in addition to LGBTQ+ young people.
Similar to calling 911, people looking for mental or emotional health support can call 988, with the further option of being directed to a counselor trained in LGBTQ+ youth support.
The proposed cuts, first reported by The Washington Post, would slash the lifeline’s LGBTQ+ youth services as part of an HHS overhaul. The restructuring will consolidate the agency’s 28 divisions into 15 divisions, including the newly created Administration for a Healthy America to implement Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
“Ending this mental health support for youth in distress would devastate a vital resource for some of our nation’s most vulnerable young people,” the lawmakers’ letter stated. “This shortsighted and dangerous plan undermines 988’s ability to provide tailored support for a population with a higher risk of suicide and will have lethal consequences if enacted.”
The letter is signed by 109 members of Congress, including Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Massachusetts; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois; Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan; and Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin.
“Mental health crises do not recognize partisan differences, and this is why support for 988 and its specialized services has always been firmly bipartisan,” the representatives wrote. “…. We urge that you scrap this ill-advised plan. Our nation’s children deserve nothing less.”
Their missive echoes a similar letter issued on May 7 by a group of Democratic senators including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey of Massachusetts.
The proposed cuts, to take effect October 1, come as LGBTQ+ youth are experiencing a spike in mental health issues triggered by the Trump administration’s heightened attacks on the community. The plan is still in draft form and its final version will need Congressional approval.
About 1.2 million of the 13 million calls, texts and chats received by the lifeline have been directed to its LGBTQ+ Youth Hotline. The frequency of those contacts has spiked over the last several months, according to The Trevor Project, one of seven federally funded contact centers that partner with the lifeline to offer specialized support for LGBTQ+ young people.
According to the Trevor Project, a national organization focused on suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ young people, suicide is the second leading cause of death among those aged 10 to 14 and the third leading cause for those aged 15 to 24. LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, and the project estimates more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people in the U.S. seriously consider suicide annually.
“Suicide prevention is about risk, not identity,” said Jaymes Black, The Trevor Project’s CEO. Ending the lifeline’s specialized LGBTQ+ youth services, Black said, “will not just strip away access from millions of LGBTQ+ kids and teens. It will put their lives at risk.”
In response to the lawmakers’ letter, a spokesperson for HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noted that all 988 services currently remain available and unaltered.
“The 988 Lifeline offers 24/7 call, text and chat access to skilled, caring crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress,” the spokesperson said. “People can also call, text or chat 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. The 988 Lifeline is a direct connection to immediate support and resources for anyone in crisis.”
What is the 988 lifeline?
The national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Veterans Crisis Line launched in July 2022 to assist people experiencing mental health, substance use or suicidal crises.
The service stemmed from the Federal Communications Commission’s July 2020 adoption of 988 as a nationwide dialing code for people in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. Several months after the FCC action, President Donald Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, incorporating the 988 lifeline into law.
“When Congress established the 988 lifeline, signed into law by President Trump during his first term, we intended it to be a resource for any American experiencing mental distress,” the representatives’ letter said. “To a young person feeling alone and scared, 988 is truly a lifeline.”
Community and mental health advocates agreed.
Tom Milam, a psychologist who serves as chief medical officer for Iris Telehealth, which has a strong LGBTQ+ community presence, said the proposed cuts would likely compound the stresses already faced by overloaded behavioral health resources. Put off by long waitlists for outpatient behavioral health services, patients have increasingly turned to emergency rooms and urgent care centers for mental health and addiction treatment, he said.
“988 has been a game-changer as a resource for people struggling with mental health and addiction issues,” Milam said. Should that option cease to exist or experience extended hold times because of inadequate staffing, more patients will call 911 or seek emergency-room care – not only the costliest option, he said, but one with minimal access to quality mental health care.
“We see hospitals and health systems doing the best they can to serve people in their community with mental health and addiction issues, but it is rarely enough,” he said.
Rachael Fried, executive director of Jewish Queer Youth, a New York-based mental health organization better known by the acronym JQY, said eliminating the life’s LGBTQ+ services would contribute to “an even greater loss of hope.”
“The administration’s proposal to cut services for LGBTQ youth through the 988 suicide and crisis hotline will have devastating and deadly consequences,” she said.
Black, of the Trevor Project, noted a 2024 Trevor Project survey that found that 40% of LGBTQ+ young people had seriously considered suicide in the past year, while 12% had attempted it.
“We urge Congress to defend its establishment of this data-based, bipartisan program to allow its life-saving services to continue for generations to come,” they said. “We do not have to agree on every policy issue to agree that every young life is worth saving.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.