‘Safe Haven’ or ‘Baby Moses’ laws exist in every state, so why are babies still dying in dumpsters?

A shocking spate of recent infant abandonments in Texas has underscored the need for increased awareness of safe haven laws, which are available in every state.

In the past week alone, news reports indicate that four infants have been found abandoned in or near dumpsters in Fort Worth, Houston, and Lubbock. Sadly, one of those abandonments resulted in the child’s death. All could have been avoided if the parents had utilized the state’s “Baby Moses Law,” which allows parents to surrender a child 60 days or younger to a fire station, emergency medical station, hospital, or Safe Haven Baby Box.

This surrender can be done anonymously, if the parents so choose.

Every state in the U.S. has certain time frames under which parents may surrender a newborn to authorities with no penalties. The National Safe Haven Alliance lists those parameters for each state, with the lowest time frame for surrender being three (3) days after birth (California, Colorado, Michigan, and Washington) and the highest being one year after birth (North Dakota). Additionally, Safe Haven Baby Boxes has infant boxes placed in well over 200 locations in the United States for parents to utilize instead of throwing their children into dumpsters.

“Those are tragic stories, and they are stories that don’t need to happen. If a citizen has a newborn that is 60 days or younger, they are able to drop them off at a fire station or a hospital and those individuals will not ask them any information about themselves. The most information they are permitted to ask them about is maybe the baby’s medical history to make sure the baby is getting the best medical care,” said Martee Boose with the Houston Fire Department. Boose’s statement came after two infants were found abandoned in Houston last week; the first occurred after a father called police and said he was having a mental health crisis and couldn’t care for his child. The child, a two-month old, was later found in a car seat next to a dumpster, and was said to be “healthy and in good condition.”

READ: Kentucky baby is 50th to be saved by a Safe Haven Baby Box

Just hours prior to that, residents in another area of the city heard crying coming from a dumpster, where they found a baby boy inside a trash bag. That child was rescued and is also now said to be in good health. Witnesses say the child’s mother gave birth in a nearby food truck before taking the newborn infant to the dumpster; she then returned to the truck and cleaned it up. Police are currently investigating the incident.

Video shows EMS pulling newborn boy from dumpster in SW Houston

A third infant was tragically found dead on Saturday in a dumpster in Fort Worth. Police have released few details in the case, other than to say that the infant’s body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment complex on Norma Street. The Fort Worth Police Department’s unit for crimes against children is currently investigating.

A fourth abandonment happened in Lubbock, where a newborn baby was found alive in a dumpster early Saturday morning. That infant was discovered just hours after the city opened its first Safe Haven Baby Box, a safe, alarmed box which allows parents to surrender their child anonymously. Monica Kelsey, founder of the Safe Haven Baby Box organization, expressed dismay at hearing of the child’s abandonment.

“Texas has always been the number one state in America for infant abandonment and we launched in Texas this year to combat this issue,” she told KLBK News. “To know that one of our cities that has a box, that was just blessed two days ago, got a baby in a dumpster instead of our box, it’s just heartbreaking.”

Editor’s note 7/25: This article has been updated with video and new details regarding one of the abandonments.

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