making threats of suicide is considered illegal in the united states, and by law anyone who is in active suicidal states of mind are supposed to be taken to the ER for a psych consult with two staff psychiatrists to see if the person is in fact a danger to themselves or others.

Another reason more and more therapy professionals are pulling themselves out of the suicidal situations and requiring the person to call emergency lines (police, ambulance and crisis intervention teams) is because calls going to a therapist about suicide threats or attempt are alot of times an attention/anger and or manipulation move - they didn't like what the therapist told them, want to keep the therapists attention focused on the negative instead of doing what they need to get better and so on.

This way (calling emergency protocals and going to the ER) if the client is threatening suicide and its for real they get the help they need with inpatient care. And the therapist and client don't get into a manipulative situation of using threats instead of getting work done.