MOVEMENT TO ESTABLISH 'SAFE HAVENS' CONTINUES TO GROW

It was the week that recognized efforts to save newborn babies.

On August 31, Jodi Brooks, a TV anchor from Mobile, Alabama's Channel 15, WPMI-TV, won an Emmy for community service for establishing the "Secret Safe Place for Newborns" program.

On September 1, the legislature of the nation's largest state, California, approved Senate Bill 1368, sponsored by Minority Leader Jim Brulte (R). When Gov. Gray Davis (D) signs the measure it will be the 14th such law - - known as "safe haven" bills or "Baby Moses" laws - - to pass since Texas State Rep. Geanie Morrison (R) got the ball rolling in 1999 with her bill signed into law June 2, 1999, by Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R).

This one week's worth of activity caps 14 months of advocacy for bills that are designed to encourage desperate mothers of newborns to anonymously and safely leave their babies at designated locations rather than abandon or kill them.

Support for laws providing safe havens for babies comes from many different sources. The common denominator is a firm commitment to preventing babies from being killed by desperate parents who feel trapped and think they have no other option.

For instance, the board of the National Right to Life Committee, meeting on June 16, 2000, passed a resolution favoring "safe haven" bills that reads, in part: "Resolved, That NRLC supports and strongly encourages legislation that would permit anonymous relinquishment, without criminal prosecution, of newborns into some safe location, e.g. hospital, medical services, fire stations, public agencies, etc."

Advocates have created a charitable organization that provides information about the new approach to saving babies. The "Baby Moses Project" now has its own web site, www.babymoses.org, which includes the usual Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

The story behind these headlines begins with John Richardson, a pediatrician in Fort Worth, Texas. Three years ago, Richardson read an article by Christine Adamec, an accomplished author of adoption books such as The Encyclopedia of Adoption, in National Adoption Reports that he couldn't get out of his mind. Richardson spent many years working with the Edna Gladney Home, the Fort Worth-based adoption agency, so his interest also stemmed from his experience in dealing with women who had planned adoption for their babies.

Adamec's article, about brain-storming sessions some officials had held in Seattle, suggested that one of the solutions to the tragedy of women delivering their babies and then tossing them in dumpsters would be to offer them an anonymous alternative. As former City Council member Sue Donaldson said, "The EMTs [Emergency Medical Technicians] who are called to dumpsters would much prefer to meet the baby at the firehouse steps."

The thinking behind the Texas law and similar legislation is quite simple. Offer a woman who is in crisis immunity from the usual penalties for child abandonment if she doesn't hurt the baby and gets the baby to a designated safe haven. Part of the approach guarantees immunity from prosecution to the person taking the baby to safety and ensures not only that anonymity is provided but also that no one will try to track down the mother or father.

Anonymous relinquishment of babies in places that are safe or public may just be being rediscovered in the United States, but other countries have long accepted the practice. And those babies (and sometimes toddlers) have done quite well in their adoptive families and have been able to be medically cared for.

As word spread, Rep. Geanie Morrison's Austin office began to get telephone calls from legislators in other states who had read about the new law. The movement mushroomed and suddenly there were so many calls Morrison decided to create a nonpartisan information and technical assistance resource to respond to questions.

With modest assistance from a small foundation, a web site - - www.babymoses.org - - was created to share information about the new Texas law and to provide answers. By February 2000, a name was picked and the web site was up and running.

The Baby Moses Project reflects the solution, recounted in Genesis, chosen by Moses's mother when she learned that the Pharaoh had ordered the murder of all newborn Hebrew males. She made sure that Moses was safely in the hands of someone who could protect him and raise him.

Those who oppose safe haven bills are stepping up their efforts, publishing attacks questioning the motives of supporters of the bills, convening symposia to try to redefine the laws as somehow regressive and unhelpful, and seeking to politicize the issue. In only one state, Georgia, is there any evidence that the efforts of critics succeeded in totally sidetracking a safe haven bill. By contrast, the latest scorecard of state activity, shows that there has been, is or are plans for laws in 32 states.

Thus far, 16 state legislatures have passed Baby Moses laws. In 13 states legislation has been signed into law: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey; New York; South Carolina; Texas, and West Virginia. Laws are waiting for action by governors in California, Delaware, and Oklahoma.

In three states, legislation has passed one of the bodies: the Georgia, House passed HB 1292; the Kentucky Senate passed SB 188; and the Ohio House passed HB 660 unanimously.

Seven other states have seen legislative action: Illinois, SB 1668; Kansas, HB 2927; Kentucky, HB 367 and HB 546; North Carolina, HB 1616; Oregon, HB 3402; Pennsylvania, HB 2321; Tennessee, HB 3112; and Washington, HB 1134.
According to the Baby Moses Project, six other states have local programs or are considering legislation. Those states are Maryland, Rhode Island, Utah, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

Additional details and opportunities to join in the effort abound. To get started, visit the web site of the Baby Moses Project, www.babymoses.org, or call the project at 1-877-90MOSES. As a back up, information is also available from the National Council For Adoption at 202-328-1200.