Safe Haven Law Needs More Messaging

In 2000, Indiana’s Safe Haven Law went into effect, making it legal for mothers to drop off unwanted newborns but it wasn’t enough to save one baby.

The body of newborn girl was found wrapped in a sweatshirt in the woods at Eagle Creek this past weekend.  That child may have had a chance at life if the mother had taken advantage of the state’s Safe Haven law.

Republican Senator Jim Merritt authored the bill that allows parents to surrender infants less than a month old.

"If you are in deep dark despair and you just don't know what to do," explains Merritt, "you can drop your infant to an emergency room at a hospital, a firehouse, a police officer or any first responder."

The Indiana Department of Child Services says 140 infants have been surrendered under the law in the nearly 15 years since it was enacted. What’s less clear is how many babies have been illegally abandoned. The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation counts 32, including 12 who died.

Indiana law enforcement and emergency personnel are trained to deal with the situation if it arises. But Indianapolis Fire Department spokesperson Captain Rita Reith says the law isn’t reaching the people who might benefit from it most:

"What we can do is make sure the messaging stays prominent, and that we can do whatever we can do to get the message early into the schools, and let the kids know that there are other alternatives than this." says Reith.

Other states have tweaked their laws to make them more effective by mandating drop off places have Safe Haven signs or teaching the option in schools.

All 50 states now have some form of the law and over 2,000 babies have been surrendered.