Legislative Actions Trigger Fierce Debate A spate of high-profile baby abandonments throughout the nation in recent years has led to a movement in some states to allow women to give away unwanted newborns at selected medical facilities. Most recently, the Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that allows women to leave babies at certain medical facilities as an alternative to abandoning them in Dumpsters, drainage ditches or other places where they are likely to be injured or die. "Rather than seeking a punitive mechanism," said Republican state Rep. Terry Barnard, one of the sponsors of the bill, "we want to give someone who might abandon their baby an opportunity to bring it to a safe place. Our bottom line is …show more content…
"Women are very vulnerable when they deliver a child," said state Rep. E. Childers, among the handful of legislators who opposed the bill. "I am concerned that there will be too many people in the wings to push her to give it up for adoption. They may be taken advantage of." Opponents also offer alternative solutions to the problem, such as a telephone hot line, care packages and shelters that can help a woman find other options besides abandonment. Thirteen abandoned in Houston Sponsors of the controversial measures say that prosecuting and punishing mothers for abandoning their newborns doesn't deter women from this desperate act, and that infants who would otherwise be left to die can be saved. Texas enacted its bill in 1999 after 13 babies were abandoned in the Houston area during a 10-month period. In Texas, new mothers may anonymously give away infants up to 30 days old to emergency medical technicians at firehouses or …show more content…
A woman would be exempt from prosecution for abandonment or child cruelty if she turns her infant over to a staff member on duty at birthing centers and medical facilities other than private physicians' or dentists' offices. But she must act quickly -- within one week of the baby's birth. Evidence of physical abuse, however, would make the mother liable for legal action. California's 'Garden of Angels' One person who is doggedly lobbying to decriminalize child abandonment in her state is Debi Faris of Yucaipa, Calif. The 44-year-old housewife and mother of three has grieved for, and buried, 38 infants and children since 1996. They aren't her own, but she claims the tiny discards, names them and buries them in her Garden of Angels, which originally comprised 44 plots within Desert Lawn cemetery in Calimesa that she and her husband, Mark, purchased with their own money. "I keep hoping we will never have to have another service," Faris said. Yet the little bodies keep turning up, and the "cemetery within a cemetery" has now grown to 95 plots with the financial help of other donors. "This is our gift of
Vollers, Anna C. (17 January, 2014). Two north Alabama lawmakers partner with midwife advocates to sponsor controversial new decriminalization bill. AL.com. Retrieved March 16, 2014 from http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/01/two_north_alabama_lawmakers_pa.html.
Some people who are for abortion say that the baby can be put up for adoption. While they can be, there are already four hundred thousand children up for adoption in the United States of America. Only, one fourth of those kids are waiting
As some would identify NFTA as a moderate alternative to banning abortion, potential alternatives for women to abort a baby will increase if the bill became a law. Distressed women would have to look to other resources to terminate a pregnancy. In terms of terminating a pregnancy, there are no other options outside of abortion. This will lead to increase of discarding newborns; a need to open more Safe Havens; managed care organizations (MCOs) will be targeted. In Illinois, a 19-year-old Chicago woman is facing charges of dropping her newborn daughter from an eighth-floor window in Uptown, killing the baby, because she feared discovery of the pregnancy by her family (chicago tribune). There are numerous of similar stories that happens nationally
If a mother has health issues that could place her life at risk while having a baby, then that mother may need to have an abortion to save her life. Head (2015) does include, “Even though pro choice protestors seem to be pro abortion, that is not completely what their argument is about,” (para. 6). Many pro choice leaders look for the best option for a mother and the baby. They look for many alternatives that give the mother and her child both their best outlook on life. A lot of parents do not have the capability or money to handle a child with disabilities, which the article failed to show. A large amount of parents consider if abortion will be the best for that type of situation. Head (2015) does include, “Circumstances may put someone in a position where abortion is the best option,” (para. 20). The author stating this shows views where if the mother can be hurt, or even die.
According to a New York Times article, A New York same sex couple Brad Hoylman and David Sigal, had a child via gestational surrogate- in California. The NYT article describes a gestational surrogate as a process “in which a woman is paid to go through the pregnancy and birth of a child who is not genetically related to her and then promises to give that child away.” The reason this couple had this process done in another state is that New York State does not allow commercial surrogate contracts, this is accordance to a 1992 law that equates such activities with baby selling, a residual effect of the “Baby M” case in New Jersey. The NYT article mentions that “Helene Weinstein, the Brooklyn Democratic assemblywoman who sponsored the resulting 1992 New York law, said it sent a message that children should not be “treated as commodities to be bought and sold.”
...e are now able to have children. Human beings have a deep and basic need to procreate, and if we can help to fulfill this need I believe that we should, we should just make sure we do so with the possible child’s best interest and future in mind as well.
Of the four million infants born into the world each year, more than two hundred are killed from infanticide (Flavin, 2009). Many more were discarded by unloving parents but never accounted for. Leaders of the United States took this problem into their own hands to try and combat the abandonment of children. This was done by passing the Safe Haven Act, also known as, the Infant Abandonment Act or Safe Surrender Laws. Due to no reduction in the number of deceased infants found each year and undesirable side effects, one would conclude that the Safe Haven Act needs to be abolished.
The government is now getting involved against abortions by trying to make abortions illegal in America. President Bush has signed a law that bans partial birth abortion. Troy Newman, the director of Operation Rescue, says that there is still a loop hole in this law. He says “it fallaciously includes a loop-hole exception to save the mother’s life that many abortionists have routinely abused when included in other legislation.” The government getting involved is a great thing. Making abortions illegal is bound to make the rate of abortion lower. Newman also includes in his article “Baby Steps to Victory” that there are other things to do with a child if the mother does not want it. He states, “If you are going to deliver a child 90% prior to sucking its brains why not fully deliver the child and place it up fo...
Between 6 to 10 percent of the incarcerated women are pregnant and 1,400 women gave birth while incarcerated in the United States, in one year alone. When people think of prison, they think of bad people that live in there. So, when they hear a mother wanting to keep her baby while in prison, people will think that the baby will be unsafe and that the mother should not keep the baby. Some people may say that it's the mother’s baby, and she have the rights to keep her baby if she want. Other people may say what they think is best for the baby, at a foster house, family house, or anywhere besides the prison. But, babies can change people’s lives around. When the mothers are given the opportunity to keep their baby with them in prison, they will do their best to get out of prison as soon as possible so they can give their baby a regular life.
One of the main controversies within this topic is the question of fetal person hood by the law. Fetuses hardly have any legal rights since they are not considered to be children. Abortion rights advocates say that these laws may prevent women from receiving pre-natal treatment. They think that the women will be scared of getting caught. A spoke person for the National Abortion and Reproduction Rights Action League says, "Women do have a responsibility, to have a healthy outcome if they've chosen to carry to term." The executive director of the national anti-abortion group Alliance argues, "Why is it that, if a child is wanted, it is a patient, and if not, it's OK to get rid of it?" (Zeller 1998)
There are 1.5 million adopted children in the United States. (Fields, Jason,) If the parents weren't ready to have to a child, instead of abortion there's adoption. There are different types of adoption. Foster care adoption is the adoption of children in state care for whom reunification with their birth parents is not possible for safety or other reasons. Private adoption can be arranged either through an agency or through independent adoption. Adoption is a lot safer than abortion, if people knew the facts about abortion i bet they'd rather give their child for adoption rather than having an abortion.
Having children is one of the most amazing things in the world but some children are created with the wrong idea behind them. RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) reports that there is “on the average of 237,868 people, ages 12 or older that have become victims of rape and sexual assault yearly.” Some of these rape and sexual assault crimes result in women becoming pregnant with a baby that they had not planned on. Women who become pregnant due to rape and sexual assault are usually very eager to get rid of their baby due to the fact that their child would possibly be a reminder of a part in their life that they would not like to recall.
...her argument was the feeling of being neglected if the child was born as a spare part baby. The only solution to the said issue is to not let the child feel unloved. These children should be cherished just as their older sibling that they helped; they shouldn’t be loved any less than they deserve, they deserve to be loved just as equal to their other sibling(s).
i.e. due to rape as a result the baby might not be wanted or teenage