The Baby Boxes end shame for mothers who need to surrender their child. Author: Brooke Hasch Updated: 9:41 AM EST March 9, 2021
FRANKFORT, Ky. The founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes is hopeful a bill with bi-partisan support will bring them to Kentucky.
The boxes allow a new mother to surrender their baby, without fear of persecution or judgment, within the first 30 days of life. They provide more protection to the mother and child than a Safe Haven Law, which is applied differently in each state. Safe Haven laws have been around for the last 20 years. A woman can walk into a fire station, police station or hospital and surrender their child no questions asked. That works 50 to 70 percent of the time, Monica Kelsey, the founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes said.
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.
INDIANA STATEHOUSE – The Indiana House of Representatives recently voted unanimously in support of legislation co-authored by State Rep. Doug Gutwein (R-Francesville) that would make it easier for communities across
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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.”
Eagle Country 99.3 By State Rep. Randy Frye (R-Greensburg), news release
Shutterstock photo.
(Indianapolis, Ind.) - The Indiana House of Representatives Tuesday voted unanimously in support of State Rep. Randy Frye s (R-Greensburg) legislation that would make it easier for communities across the state to install Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
Indiana s Safe Haven Law enables a parent to surrender an infant fewer than 30 days old to any hospital emergency room, fire station, police station or Safe Haven Baby Box within the state without fear of prosecution. This bill will help save the lives of newborn babies and serves as a last resort for a parent in crisis,” Frye said. “Indiana continues to be a national leader when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable. While we hope it’s never used, this is a safe, anonymous choice for distraught parents or caregivers to leave a newborn in the care of emergency responders.