This year, the General Assembly has considered many bills concerning suicide prevention and awareness training. Some have been set aside due to cost, while others are proceeding. Importantly, for the first time since its introduction a decade ago, the legislature appears ready to eliminate the common law “crime” of suicide.
HB 43 (Simon) abolishes the common law crime of suicide. The patron explained that when Virginia was first established as a Commonwealth, we adopted the English common law, which at the time considered suicide to be a crime. That designation has lead to greater stigmatization of serious mental illness and has actually caused emotional and financial harm to the family members and loved ones of the person who took their own life. The patron noted that the English common law no longer treats suicide as a crime. This bill, or something very similar to it, has been presented to the legislature multiple times over the last decade. This year, the bill passed the House and has been approved by the Senate Courts of Justice committee. We expect passage in the Senate by early next week.
HB 38 (Henson) requires school personnel to have mental health awareness training, to include suicide prevention. The Bill was approved by the House and is now before the Senate Committee on Education and Health, Public Education subcommittee. It is not expected to have a budget impact.
HB 495 (Guzman) requires mental health training for school bus drivers. As originally filed, the bill would have created a mandatory reporting tool, but that was removed from the bill before it was approved by the full House. The bill is now before the Senate Committee on Education and Health. It is not expected to have an impact on the state budget.
Some bills that would increase suicide awareness and response training have been defeated due to the fiscal impacts. These bills include:
HB 48 (Reid) – would have established a work group to recommend preventative strategies in at risk populations
HB 321 (Glass) would have created a prevention program to address agricultural mental health and suicide risk issues
HB 1223 (Delaney) would have made suicide prevention a mandatory training for health professionals
Our mission is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals.