President Trump has signed a bill into law that aims to reduce the suicide lifeline from 10 digits to three.
The legislation, the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act, directs government agencies to look into changing the current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, 800-273-TALK, to three digits that people can easily remember. The idea is to come up with a number people can recall when they are in a crisis situation, as they do with 911.
The bill was passed unanimously by both the Senate and House at a time when federal data revealed that suicides in the U.S. have risen by more than 30 percent since 1999, surpassing 45,000 in 2016. Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among 15- to 19-year-olds, it is the second-leading cause of death.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, one of the authors of the suicide lifeline legislation, said in a statement that he was “grateful” Trump had signed the bill into law.
“With this topic, my heart is both heavy and hopeful—heavy because suicide has already taken so many lives; hopeful because this legislation can turn the tide in the campaign against this epidemic,” he said. “With this bill, we can prevent countless tragedies and help thousands of men and women get the help they so desperately need.”
Under the legislation, the Federal Communications Commission, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs will determine how doable it would be to set up a three-digit number, suggest which number to use, and look into how well the current lifeline works. The study would include recommendations to improve the suicide prevention program, as well as an analysis on how well it addresses the needs of veterans, 20 of whom die by suicide every day.
The implementation would cost less than $500,000 over five years, projected the Congressional Budget Office, the government’s score-keeping agency.
