Texting option weighed for upcoming '988' suicide hotline

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2019, file photo, a man uses a cell phone in New Orleans. Recognizing that many Americans rely on texting, rather than phone calls, the U.S. communications regulator will weigh whether to require phone companies to let people text a suicide hotline. Crisis counselors began responding to texts sent to the Lifeline last August, the FCC said, and on Thursday, April 22, 2021, the agency voted unanimously to start a process that could also require phone companies to let people text 988. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)