Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws

When should we try to prevent suicide? Should it be facilitated for some people, in some circumstances? For the last forty years, law and policy on suicide have followed two separate and distinct tracks: laws aimed at preventing suicide and, increasingly, laws aimed at facilitating it.In Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws legal scholar Susan Stefan argues that these laws co-exist because they are based on two radically disparate conceptions of the would-be suicide. This is the first book that unifies policies and laws, including constitutional law, criminal law, malpractice law, and civil commitment law, toward people who want to end their lives. Based on the author's expert understanding of mental health and legal systems, analysis of related national andinternational laws and policy, and surveys and interviews with more than 300 suicide-attempt survivors, doctors, lawyers, and mental health professionals, Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws exposes the counterproductive nature of current policies and laws about suicide. Stefan proposes and defends specific reforms,including increased protection of mental health professionals from liability, increased protection of suicidal people from coercive interventions, reframing medical involvement in assisted suicide, and focusing on approaches to suicidal people that help them rather than assuming suicidality is always a symptom of mental illness. Stefan compares policies and laws in different states in the U.S. and examines the policies and laws of other countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including the2015 legalization of assisted suicide in Canada. The book includes model statutes, seven in-depth studies of people whose cases presented profound ethical, legal, and policy dilemmas, and over a thousand cases interpreting rights and responsibilities relating to suicide, especially in the area ofpsychiatric malpractice.

Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws is an immensely important contribution to the professional literature and, we should hope, the public policy making process, regarding suicide. Beyond that, it earns recognition as a valuable primer on the law and ethics of end-of-life medical decision making and delivery generally., There is no way to do justice to all of the groundbreaking analysis and novel policy and practice solutions proposed in this book. It should be required reading for everyone in the fields of mental health and suicidology. . . One can only hope that the ideas in this book will reach policymakers, mental health professionals, employers, university administrators, and advocates who are in a position to help change our laws and practices to truly support suicidal people to find reasons to live again.

Susan Stefan is the author of four books on law and policy relating to people with psychiatric disabilities and has worked nationally and internationally as a consultant on systems reform issues. She litigated class actions in state and federal court, has served as an expert witness, and was a Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law.