Suzy's Law

Mike Gonzales 
Parent and Suicide Loss Survivor; 
Suicide Prevention Advocate 

Since the death of his 19-year-old daughter, Suzanne, to suicide, Mike Gonzales uses the circumstances around her death in his work to prevent this tragedy from happening to others.  After noting that Suzanne’s death in 2003 was one of 31,484 U.S. suicide deaths that year, he explains that a pro-suicide website was one of the factors in her suicide. These web sites actually encourage people, particularly young people, to commit suicide. After learning that there are no laws that deal with assisted suicide through the internet, Gonzales and others contacted Congressman Wally Herger’s office. The staff there drafted a bill that makes it a crime for a person to use the internet to promote or encourage suicide. Suicide-prevention advocates are campaigning to get the bill, known as “Suzy’s Law,” passed. 

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Recorded: March 16, 2012