Malone coauthors suicide prevention resolution, his first prime sponsorship
State Senator James Malone (D-Lititz) is preparing his first piece of legislation as a prime sponsor, tackling the issue of suicide awareness and prevention.
The resolution, yet to be filed at this writing, would recognize September 2025 as Suicide Prevention Month in Pennsylvania. National nonprofits focusing on mental health and self-harm prevention recognize September for the same purpose.
Partnering with fellow Democrat Christine Tartaglione of Philadelphia, Malone, who won a surprise special-election victory as a Democrat in a heavily Republican district in March, issued a memorandum to colleagues last Monday asking them to cosponsor the measure. On Thursday, the two senators circulated another memo naming September 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day in Pennsylvania; that day is already observed internationally.
In their messages to fellow senators, the two sponsors cited an estimate that suicide takes more than 720,000 lives globally each year. Fighting such a deadly epidemic, they contend, must mean having franker conversations about it.
“The triennial [September 10] theme for 2024 through 2026 is ‘Changing the Narrative on Suicide’ which strives to transform how we perceive this complex issue,” Malone and Tartaglione wrote. “Changing the narrative requires systemic change and shifting from a culture of silence and stigma to one of openness, understanding, and support. This means advocating for policies and legislation that prioritize mental health, increase access to care, and provide support for those in need.”
Last year, Tartaglione sponsored a similar measure to the one introduced on Thursday, though the 2024 legislation did not receive a vote.
“While [suicide] can be prevented, it will require awareness, concern, and action from every resident in the commonwealth,” she said in floor remarks. “Health professionals, government agencies, interested groups, family members, and coworkers each play an equally important role in suicide prevention. By working together, we can increase education and awareness about suicide so that individuals at risk are identified, treated, and provided with post-intervention services. We cannot allow stigma or misconceptions to deter prevention efforts.”
Neither sponsor of the upcoming resolution returned requests for comment. Their memos stressed a need for continual prevention efforts, insofar as survivors of suicide are 25 times more likely to reattempt it at some point.
Suicide ends the lives of almost 2,000 Pennsylvanians yearly. It is especially widespread in certain demographics, particularly males and older adults.
And it’s a worsening problem: Pennsylvania’s per capita suicide rate has climbed significantly in recent decades, with such deaths numbering 10.5 per 100,000 people in 1999 and rising to 14.3 in 2023. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has set a goal to reduce that number to less than or equal to 12.8 by 2030.
Lancaster County is one of only fifteen counties that is already on track to meet that goal, with a rate of 10.6 per 100,000 residents between 2019 and 2023; Tartaglione’s Philadelphia, at the same rate, is too. All Pennsylvania counties with the lowest relative suicide totals are concentrated in the state’s southeast, central, and south-central regions. Snyder County, home to the Susquehanna River town of Selinsgrove, had the lowest rate in the commonwealth at 9.7.
Counties with the worst suicide figures include Fayette in the southwest, Elk and Potter in the north-center, as well as Carbon and Wyoming in the northeast. All have rates well above 21 per 100,000 people, with Carbon and Wyoming’s numbers exceeding 25. Statistics are unavailable for the highly rural Forest, Cameron, and Sullivan counties, all of which border counties with the officially highest rates.
Via her website, Tartaglione encourages those struggling with suicidal ideation to call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273 TALK (8255). Mental health-related resolutions and bills she has sponsored this term include a designation of “Mental Health Awareness Month,” new requirements for medical insurers, and reforms to the state’s drug and alcohol addiction recovery system.
Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.
