New parents would have more time to leave their newborns at a safe place, without facing prosecution for giving them away, under legislation passed this week in Kentucky.
The legislation, which was approved by the House on March 29, would expand the time that parents have to drop off their baby at a fire station – or other acceptable location – from about 72 hours to nearly a month.
Some child advocates had pushed for the change, and State Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he supported it because mothers need more time to decide whether to make such a big decision.
“I didn’t think the 72 hours was long enough time, and a couple of other states have already extended it up to 30 days, so I thought this was a good time to make that adjustment,” Burch said.
If signed into law, the change likely would take effect in mid-July.
The goal is to save kids’ lives and prevent tragic cases that turn up in the news from time to time, Burch said. A teen girl was indicted earlier this year in Jefferson County after allegedly smothering her newborn daughter and hiding her in a purse in 2015. Other cases in recent years have occurred at Bellarmine University and a local Kohl’s store.
“A lot of times women walk off and leave the baby in a restroom or maybe they kill it,” Burch said. “… We shouldn’t have that happen.”
The legislation passed by the House this week calls for churches or “places of worship” to be added to the list of acceptable places to turn in babies. But the churches would have to meet certain criteria, such as putting up proper signage and immediately calling 911 or emergency services to turn over the baby.
Existing state law allows babies to be handed over to an emergency medical services provider or to be left at a staffed police station, fire station or hospital.
From 2002 through last year, 38 babies were surrendered under the state’s Safe Infants Act, according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Five of the children were returned to their parents.
But more education is needed, said Erika Janes of the Children’s Hospital Foundation Office of Child Advocacy of Kosair Children’s Hospital.
“We have to make sure that everybody knows you don’t just leave the baby at the doorstep,” said Janes, a child advocate who supported the safe haven legislation. “The baby always has to be handed off to an individual who’s going to accept responsibility for that baby. Even some of the fire departments may not be staffed 24/7.”
The new safe haven provisions were added (by Senate amendment) to a bill that would allow childcare centers to obtain prescriptions for and store epinephrine auto-injectors, such as EpiPens, to treat allergic reactions.
Parents choosing to give up their babies under the safe haven provisions would have the right to remain anonymous and generally wouldn’t be considered to have abandoned or endangered the newborn infant, the legislation notes. But the baby has to have “no sign of any abuse or injuries to it,” Burch said. “… If you abuse it, you’re going to pay the price.”
Participation by churches is voluntary, and Burch said he doesn’t expect many of them to step forward. That’s because many churches have limited hours of operation during the week and might not be equipped to have people standing by to receive babies, he said.
But Burch said more people need to know that they can use this law if they don’t think they can take care of a baby.
“We need to have more publicity about it so that women that are caught in this situation … don’t just walk off and leave the baby or throw it in a dumpster or something like that,” he said. “It’s better to save the baby’s life.”
Janes said she’d like to see high schools and obstetricians educating people about safe haven. “A lot of young women don’t know that it exists as an option,” she said.
Eventually, proceedings would be held to place the child for adoption. “There are so many people that want babies and can’t have them,” Janes said.
Reporter Darla Carter can be reached at (502) 582-7068 or on Twitter @PrimeDarla.
