In 1996 ?? Nope.I can "see" all the reasons for wanting to take your own life and I can understand the principle of self-determinition. But wy not carying an ID? Could it be that she was in a place where they kept it for her? I don't know if and where they might do that in the USA.
Only in the 2010 the debate started about medical assistance for dying. Such assistance in 1996 => murder.
Principles of self-determination about death was not accepted in those days.
What you say may be relevant now, but it doesn't fit the context in 1996.