WBUR Cognoscenti: Madison Kitchen (SSW’24) Discusses Prosecuting for Suicide Coercion
Although Massachusetts does not currently have a law against suicide coercion, the pending bill nicknamed “Conrad’s Law” aims to make it illegal. Madison Kitchen (SSW’24), a student at BU School of Social Work, shared her experience with suicide ideation and prevention in a recent op-ed for WBUR Cognoscenti. She discusses the careful measures lawmakers must take to ensure that Conrad’s Law does inadvertently harm citizens.
Excerpt from “Should we prosecute people for coercing suicide?” by Madison Kitchen:
I have spent hours considering how best to address this issue. I have pored over court documents, media coverage and case law. No matter which way I land, someone loses. If Massachusetts bill H.1548, written with input from Conrad Roy’s family, is not passed, future cases like Roy’s may not be prosecuted. If the bill passes, there is potential for legal consequences that conflict with First Amendment rights. Perhaps the best choice is to adjust the language of Conrad’s Law to specify that only coercive actions persistent in both repetition and intensity over a sustained period of time are punishable by law.
This legislation should not exist in a vacuum. Crisis intervention services and behavioral health care in Massachusetts must be bolstered. It is not enough for a person experiencing intensive suicidal ideation to know that help exists. In the months prior to going to the emergency room, I saw a therapist regularly, took antidepressants and even called the suicide hotline (and was immediately put on hold).
It was not that I didn’t know help was available, but rather that I didn’t know what would happen, or how people would react, if I asked for it. If someone had encouraged me to engage in self-injurious behaviors rather than help-seeking ones, I might have listened to them: I was lost and desperate for a road map. Massachusetts needs to make one.”