Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster, a co-author of the bill, said it gives the option to safely help a baby instead of leaving a baby outside a firehouse or, as he’s heard from fire department officials, in trash cans at truck stops.
A proposed bill in the Florida Legislature would pave the way for distressed parents to surrender newborn children through a box, but there is opposition to the idea.
Florida lawmakers consider baby box as a place to abandon newborns sun-sentinel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sun-sentinel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
click image Photo courtesy Senator Dennis Baxley/Facebook Baby Box bill sponsor, Dennis Baxley
A proposal that would allow parents to place up to month-old newborns in so-called “baby boxes” instead of handing them over to firefighters, paramedics and emergency personnel cleared a Senate health-care panel on Tuesday. Despite the support for the measure (SB 122), Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, said a nearly hour-long discussion on the bill underscores that there’s “work to be done.” “I know there’s still disagreement. I think it’s very clear, it’s very clear to Senator Baxley, that there’s work to be done on this bill to get it in a better position,” said Bean, referring to bill sponsor Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
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The bill s sponsor, Sen. Dennis Baxley, denied that the measure benefits only Safe Haven Baby Boxes, an Indiana-based nonprofit.
The bill would allow babies up to 30 days old to be placed in a “newborn infant safety device” located on exterior walls of fire stations, emergency medical-services stations or hospitals.
A proposal that would allow parents to place up to month-old newborns in so-called “baby boxes” instead of handing them over to firefighters, paramedics and emergency personnel cleared a Senate health care panel on Tuesday.
Despite the support for the measure (SB 122), Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, said a nearly hour-long discussion on the bill underscores that there’s “work to be done.”