Texas Safe Haven Laws 'front and center' following Roe v Wade decision

Safe Haven laws are designed to give parents who are unable to care for a child a safe and legal choice to leave their infant at a designated safe place, such as a hospital, fire station or an emergency medical services station. This law is also known as the Baby Moses law, which leaves the infant with these facilities and makes sure that babies receive proper medical care and will be placed with a provider to take care of the child.

Since the law passed, the Safe Haven law has been a rarely used alternative for parents who cannot take care of newborn children. The Amarillo Fire Department (AFD) had a baby dropped off at one of their stations on June 22 by a young mother which, according to the department, was its first dropped off child in about 15 years. In a statement released by AFD, it said the infant that was surrendered under the Safe Haven Law at Amarillo Fire Station 13 and was in good health with shot records and paperwork from the hospital.

According to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), there have been 172 infants who have been relinquished to safe havens since the law was enacted in 2009. In 2020, there were 21 babies surrendered to these types of facilities, which was the most since the law took effect. So far this year, there have been seven statewide that have been turned into safe-havens. Nationwide, it is estimated that about 4,000 babies have been given up under Safe Haven laws.

With the U.S. Supreme Court effectively overturning Roe vs. Wade, the Safe Haven law was placed front and center in the concurring opinion as an alternative to abortion. Justice Samuel Alito mentioned in his ruling ‘that states have increasingly adopted safe haven laws which generally allow women to drop off babies anonymously; and that a woman who puts her newborn up for adoption today has little fear the baby will find a suitable home.”

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The impact of the ruling on infants given up as an option rather than abortion remains to be seen. For those seeking to end unwanted pregnancies in Texas, especially in many regions of the state, the distance to an abortion provider would have a significant impact financially and time wise on those who might seek that procedure. With every state currently having a Safe Haven law, there has been no statistical data that shows any noticeable impact on the reduction of abortions with these measures, but it is a viable option for those parents who accept they are not capable of taking care of a newborn child.

According to DFPS, to use the Safe Haven Law, a baby must be 60 days old or younger, unharmed and safe. People leaving their baby must give it to an employee who works at one of the Safe Haven locations. Dropping off the child is anonymous, but a parent may be asked for family or medical history to make sure that the baby receives the care it needs. If the baby is unharmed and dropped at a Safe Haven facility, the parent dropping them off will not be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect.

Jeff Justus, AFD liaison, spoke about the infant dropped off and the value of the Safe Haven law to keep babies safe.

‘We feel like this person made the right decision, which I am sure was an extremely hard one to make, but the safety of the baby is paramount in these situations,” Justus said. ‘We want the public to know that they have a healthy alternative if they cannot take care of a child; this is a safe place to make sure that child is taken care of. The important thing is that the baby is unharmed if one wants to remain anonymous and have no liability for prosecution. It takes a strong person to admit they cannot manage these situations.”

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Justus said that these facilities will accept a child of any age if the situation dictates, but to qualify for being completely free of prosecution, the child must be 60 days old or younger.

“We just wanted to say after this incident that there is nothing to be ashamed of," Justus said. “We are happy to help and accept the child, and you can rest assured that it will be in capable hands with us as part of the Safe Haven process. The station is always a safe place to take a child.”

Emphasizing that regardless of age the stations will take any child that is left in their care, Justus said that the safety of the children is the most crucial factor that his department cares about. He said he felt that even if a child has been harmed, a parent should still seek to get that child help as quickly as possible, but there are no legal protections to shield parents of a baby dropped off in those situations.

“We just want people to know that there is a safe alternative for those that don’t want or cannot take care of their child,” Justus said. “We applaud the courage of the mother for having the courage to step forward and drop the baby off and finding a safe home for their baby. We are not here to judge; we are here to help.”

For more information, go to the Baby Moses Project website or call the Texas Baby Moses Hotline 1-877-904-SAVE (1-877-904-7283).

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Texas Safe Haven Laws become focus after Roe v Wade decision