Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) signed a bill on September 9 legalizing Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the state.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Then, the outside door locks, and mothers have time to get away before an alarm goes off, alerting first responders or hospital staff inside.
The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and often quickly adopted. Safe Haven Baby Boxes are usually community-funded and are legalized by legislation that expands existing Safe Haven laws, which every state has. In Alaska, infants may legally be surrendered 21 days after birth to baby boxes, hospitals, fire stations, and police stations.
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The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Rob Myers (R) and state Rep. Frank Tomaszewski (R).
“This bill is about something very simple: giving a newborn a chance to live,” state Rep. Sarah Vance (R) said in a post to Facebook. “Safe Haven Baby Boxes provide a safe, secure place for a mother in crisis to surrender her newborn anonymously. Once a baby is placed inside, first responders are immediately alerted so that child can get medical care and be brought to safety.”
“Sadly, we’ve seen why this is needed here in Alaska,” Vance continued. “There have been heartbreaking cases of newborn babies being abandoned outside in the cold, including babies who were found frozen. No newborn should ever be left outside to face the elements. A parent in crisis needs a safe option, and this law provides one. I’m grateful to everyone who worked to get this across the finish line. If this law saves even one baby’s life, it will have been worth it.”
Monica Kelsey, founder of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization, was in Alaska to celebrate the bill’s signing. She said Alaska is the 27th state to now allow the use of baby boxes for infant surrenders.
“We have saved over 300 babies through our Baby Boxes and the Baby Box hotline,” she said in a live stream on Facebook.
The Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization has a confidential National Safe Haven Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, that provides free counseling and information about safe surrenders, including face-to-face surrenders.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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