Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT2)

Should there be a three-digit telephone code for help with suicidal thoughts, the way there’s a three-digit code for emergencies?

Context

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death overall, with more than twice as many suicides as homicides in the U.S.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, more commonly called “the suicide hotline,” is a free service that began in 2005. Last year, the hotline took 2.2 million calls.

The phone number has achieved more prominence lately. A song about suicide with that title, by the rapper Logic featuring the singer Alessia Cara, reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2017. Calls to the hotline tripled after their Grammy Awards performance, which featured families of suicide victims standing on stage.

However, could it have potentially taken even more calls with a simpler phone number? Their current number is difficult to remember: 1–800–273–8255 (TALK). 911’s use as the national emergency number started in 1968 and virtually every American adult and child knows that number.

What the bill does

The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act is a bipartisan bill that would make 988 the nationwide telephone number for suicidal counseling.

The bill was introduced mere days after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) favorably reported the change, after Congress had commissioned the agency to study the issue. In December, GovTrack Insider previously covered the fact that only then-Republican and now-independent Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI3) was the only House member to vote against authorizing the FCC to study the issue.

The new legislation was introduced in the House on August 20 as bill number H.R. 4194, by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT2).

What supporters say

Supporters argue that the bill helps those who are struggling with considering ending their own lives, and should be made easier and simpler to access for all who desire its free services.

“I am truly honored to lead on the Utah-based initiative to get a three-digit, easy-to-remember, dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline,” Rep. Stewart said in a press release. “Suicide hits close to home with an average of two Utahns taking their life every day. This dialing code is an essential step in providing critical resources to those in emotional distress.”

What opponents say

While the bill has no visible opponents, per se, the FCC’s recent report on switching the number did note the surprisingly large costs — and mentioned a possibility that some might not consider the extra lives saved (if that indeed happens at all) to be worth it.

“We… estimate that total costs for the first year would be approximately $570 million and

total costs for the second year would be approximately $175 million,” the FCC report said. “While the value of a human life cannot be reduced to a dollar figure… the Department of

Transportation’s Value of a Statistical Life (VSL)… estimates the value that people put on their own safety. The VSL is currently $9.6 million.”

That means for a telephone number switch to be “worth it,” it would have to save 60 additional lives the first year and 19 lives the second year. (Of course, the counterargument could be made that even saving one additional live is worth it.)

Odds of passage

The bill has attracted 52 bipartisan cosponsors: 29 Democrats and 23 Republicans. It awaits a potential vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Considering the nonpartisan nature of the issue, and the universal desire across the political spectrum to decrease or prevent suicides, this seems a likely bill for enactment.

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.

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