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BABYTALK AUGUST 23, 2024
AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
Most of us have probably seen signs like these at various locations around town. A logical and natural response would be why? What good purpose could possibly be served by making it easy for people to abandon their babies? Under Georgia law the mother (or whoever is doing the dropping off) does not even have to identify themselves; the process can be completely anonymous. At first glance, the law could seem to devalue human life, as though “throwaway babies” are so A-OK in our society that we’ve passed laws to protect those who do it. Actually, so-called safe haven laws are not designed for the mother’s protection; they are intended to protect babies. South Carolina’s law illustrates the reasoning perfectly. Known as Daniel’s Law, it was named for an infant who was found buried in an Allendale County landfill. He survived the ordeal and was nicknamed Daniel by nurses as he recovered in a hospital. Enacted in 2001, the South Carolina law is designed to eliminate dangerous and fatal abandonments by giving parents who feel utterly hopeless an op-
tion that does not involve prosecution or harm to the baby. The first such law, dubbed a “Baby Moses Law,” was signed in Texas in 1999 in response to more than a dozen incidents of child abandonment in the Lone Star State that year. All 50 states now have a safe haven law. If you’re wondering how often people take advantage of such laws, Georgia has never has as many safe-haven babies as Texas had in 1999; the alltime peak in Georgia was 12 in 2004. The total for the past 10 years (2014-2023) is 23, which includes zero instances in 2015 and 2017, but 9 in 2022.
South Carolina’s all-time safe-haven peak was 7 babies in 2022. 63 infants have been surrendered under Daniel’s Law since 2009 in the Palmetto State. In Georgia, the law (in brief) says the infant must be less than 30 days old; in South Carolina, the limit is 60 days from birth. Babies must be healthy and unharmed, and contrary to the storybook image at right, must be given to an on-duty staff member at a hospital or medical facility, fire or police station. South Carolina adds churches “during open hours” to their list of drop-off options. There are a number of other state-to-state variations. For example, in a number of states the infant can be no more than 3 days old. At least one state (California) allows a parent to request to reclaim their infant within 14 days. In fact, the issue of parental rights within the context of safe haven laws is a sticky one indeed, since critics say the laws in many states favor the mother to such an extent that fathers are completely excluded from the conversation. Anonymity provisions mean that fathers who might be more than willing to raise their child are
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not notified; they may not even be aware of the pregnancy. Let’s say a husband is deployed overseas for a year. While he is away his wife discovers they are pregnant. She knows her husband wants to start a family, but she does not. Because she is against abortion, she delivers their full-term baby and surrenders it anonymously under safe haven protection. Under similar circumstances women have become pregnant via extra-marital affairs and delivered a child in the husband’s absence, then give it away anonymously. Defenders of safe haven laws admit they are not perfect (the original Nebraska law allowed children up to age 18 to be sur-
rendered), but argue that they save lives by providing safe and legal alternatives to abortion, infanticide, and abandonment. Even in Texas where these laws were born, the problem continues. Over the past year in Houston, more babies have been found abandoned (5) than turned in through the state’s Baby Moses Law (3). Last month a crying newborn was pulled from a Houston dumpster. The father, who could have easily surrendered the baby without repercussion, is instead facing felony charges for child abandonment. Safe haven laws may not be ideal, but after all, they address a decidedly less-than-ideal situation. +
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