New Suicide Bill Brings Healing for Arizona Family

Thursday morning, Governor Doug Ducey signed into effect bill HB 2459, also known as the Laloboy Act. The bill, which was sponsored by Jeff Weninger (R) Dist. 17, states that any adult who coaches or instructs a minor into suicide and then if that child dies by suicide, they are now held responsible for their death.

This bill hits home for numerous Arizona families, as far too many have been affected by suicide, but for one family, this starts to bring healing and closure to a very dark time.

Paolla Jordan and her family lost their son Adrios when he got instructions on how to die by suicide by someone on the online website, Reddit.com. At the time of his death, there was not a law that would have held the person behind the screen responsible.

Jordan said, “The reaction I got from so many people when talking about this was, ‘Wait this isn’t a law?’ and I think that says a lot.”

Currently, Arizona is the first state to put this into law. The bill was passed through the House and Senate unanimously and was also given an emergency clause that would allow it to go into effect immediately, rather than the typical 90 days post-session that most other bills follow.

When asked what the unanimous vote through legislation would mean for the community, Representative Weninger said, “I hope it will show that we're not always fighting down here and also shows the courage of those who told these heart wrenching stories over and over, but most importantly that we can work together to solve big problems that our community faces.”

Jordan already hopes to get the bill amended to include those that attempted suicide after being instructed or coached, even if they were not successful, and also children and adults with special needs.

Along with taking the bill nationally, Jordan started the Laloboy foundation, where she named it after the nickname her son gave himself a child. The foundation provides funding for counseling for underprivileged families.

Jordan said, “We have $9,000 in aid that we have available to help families with copays or any type of cost needed to get help for their loved one. This year is also our first year doing Laloboy scholarships, and we have two that we will be giving out at the end of the year.”

Weninger and Jordan both said the bill was long overdue and hopeful that it might help prevent others from suffering the loss of loved ones to suicide.