Are Safe-Haven Laws A Good Idea?

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Are Safe-Haven Laws A Good Idea?

Debi Faris recently made the sad drive, again, from her home in Yucaipa, California, to the Los Angeles County coroner's office to retrieve the body of a baby boy who had been left by a dumpster. Ms. Faris, her husband, Mark, and others laid baby Jacob (who was named by the police officer who found the child) to rest in the Garden of Angels, a small portion of a local cemetery the Farises established for abandoned infants in 1996. With the help of donations, they bought 44 plots four years ago. Baby Jacob was the 45th abandoned child buried there, forcing them to look for new space among the tombstones. "I never thought in our lifetimes we'd use them all," said Debi Faris.

Due to the increasing numbers each year of abandoned babies in our country, law makers are starting to pass laws designed to protect abandoned babies. According to a survey of media reports conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 65 newborns were abandoned in public places in 1991, and that number rose to 108 by 1998. Experts can't explain why the number of abandoned babies is increasing, the only thing they see is that these people leaving their babies appear to be desperate and totally ignorant of what could be done for their babies. Babies are found alive, and sometimes dead in dumpsters, parking lots, woods, and rivers. In 1999, Houston, which leads the country in this phenomenon, reported 13 incidents in a 10-month period. Three of the babies were found dead.

Many states have enacted or are actively considering new "safe-haven" laws to prevent such tragic abandonments. These laws allow a woman to leave her baby at a hospital, medical clinic, police or fire station anonymously, mostly with no...

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... In the next year after the law going into effect, 33 babies were abandoned in Texas, most at hospitals, while 14 were left in dangerous situations. This year the number remains the about the same, but there were five cases reported in which women bore children elsewhere and then dropped them off at a hospital or firehouse. Three of those women said they had been prompted to do so by the law.

I feel that these abandoned baby laws should be passed by every state. Saving just one more baby's life is all that matters. We shouldn't let babies continue to be thrown in dumpsters because people are worried about them not having medical backgrounds. The value of a baby's life is so much greater than the concerns arisen over the laws. The laws are well intentioned, and are the best way to help babies that are destined to be abandoned whether there are safe-havens or not.

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