...and the fact people were horribly abused, it became widely published, and public outcry was a big factor in closing the "hospitals" that didn't treat their patients.

People were not "horribly abused" - that was a narrative by fiscal conservatives to slash programs.

Strange how those patients ended up primarily in jails and prisons, and the street, where they received no treatment, and homelessness and mental health issues got much worse.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/stor...

It wasn't a fictional narrative, it actually happened.

We can agree that the results were worse but you can't pretend that the abuse was made up by Republicans.

Someone here once linked to this story: https://archive.ph/PrGLB

The history of women being sent to mental hospitals for being uppity is pretty clear.

That is a truly wild bunch of historical revisionism. In the 70's there was a push for greater mental health treatment.

Reagan repealed the Mental Health Systems Act (the result of a commission under Carter) as part of his "small government" mantra.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of_1...

Reagan was elected as a conservative backlash to Carter's progressive policies. We're talking about someone so petty he ripped functioning solar panels off the roof of the White House.

"Solar panels" - makes these sound like they were photovoltaics and not leaky solar waters heaters.

They leaked water, something you do not want happening in a historical property.

Reagan made a lot of terrible choices, removing leaky containers from one one of our nation's most iconic historic buildings is not among them.