There’s nothing more tragic than stories of desperate mothers
killing or abandoning unwanted newborns rather than facing
disapproving family or friends with news of a pregnancy. Given that
California’s Safely Surrendered Babies Law has since 2001 allowed
mothers to surrender newborns at hospitals, no questions asked,
it’s an unnecessary tragedy.
There’s nothing more tragic than stories of desperate mothers killing or abandoning unwanted newborns rather than facing disapproving family or friends with news of a pregnancy. Given that California’s Safely Surrendered Babies Law has since 2001 allowed mothers to surrender newborns at hospitals, no questions asked, it’s an unnecessary tragedy.
Mothers who surrender their babies at a safe haven have a two-week cooling-off period in which they can reclaim their babies and retain their anonymity. It’s a good law that ought to be saving lives.
Unfortunately, despite the presence of these “Safe Havens,” there was still a heartbreaking string of these tragedies in north Santa Clara County this summer. Two babies were found dead and another abandoned but alive in recent weeks.
Frequently these mothers have had no prenatal care and give birth outside of a hospital or other medical facility. Some of these mothers are the victims of sexual abuse or rape.
In response, Santa Clara County Supervisors added 17 county fire stations to the list of places where a desperate new mother can leave her newborn child. That’s an important first step.
But the county has taken another, perhaps more significant, step. It has established a “Safe Haven” task force that is charged with educating the public about the newborn surrender law.
“Our goal is the complete elimination of babies being abandoned in Santa Clara County,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Jim Beall.
The task force is made up of wide range of professionals – from medical to emergency services, from social services to education and beyond – who must find a way to tell those who need to know how to safely and anonymously surrender a newborn.
Success will mean unwanted babies get a real chance at life; it means that adoptive parents who long for a baby will have that dream fulfilled; and it means mothers in desperate circumstance won’t have to live with the crushing guilt of abandoning or killing their own newborn child.
We applaud the county for taking this problem seriously and urge the task force to think creatively about how to educate the public about the Safely Surrendered Baby Law.
“These women need to know that being unable to meet the challenge of caring for a newborn infant is not a crime, but harming their newborn infants or leaving their newborns infants alone somewhere is a crime. They have an alternative to living in fear of being found out, or living with the guilt of knowing that they did less than their absolute best for that newborn infant,” said Supervisor Liz Kniss.
As a community, it behooves us to do our absolute best to get the word out about the Safely Surrendered Baby Law.
