mother who dropped newborn at fire hall didnt break the law

[Ridryder 911]

Good thing we don't have such laws for geriatrics.. Each station house would have a new patient, each time they returned...

R/r 911

[windsong]

We had a young girl age 16 yrs old, she dumped her newborn in a garbage bag and left it at someone elses roadside garbage. When a lady walking by with her dog heard what sounded like faint cries, then uncovering the garbage bag and finding the baby, the EMS/Police were notified.

After all the crap died down, the teenaged mother wanted her baby back, she didnt get custody of the baby, but her mother who being a single mom herself got custody.

Now the law passed said that if anybody couldnt care for their newborn or whatever, please dont abandon them, you can take them to any hospital, Firehall or Police station, no questions asked, well if I were any of them(dont get me wrong) I wouldnt drop them off at any police station, maybe at an EMS station or hospital.

[Asysin2leads]

Texas has such a law, and it has not cut down on the number of abandoned infants. In fact, the numbers of abandoned infants has steadily increased since the law was passed, and the number of infants dumped at hospitals has decreased. The number of infants taken to fire stations has remained as before the law... almost non-existent.

More proof that do-gooder laws are pointless.

Do you mind sharing a liitle of that "proof" with us Dust? The article you got it from? And does the higher rate correlate with a higher rate of pregnancy, thus skewing the statistics?

[Asysin2leads]

Texas has such a law, and it has not cut down on the number of abandoned infants. In fact, the numbers of abandoned infants has steadily increased since the law was passed, and the number of infants dumped at hospitals has decreased. The number of infants taken to fire stations has remained as before the law... almost non-existent.

More proof that do-gooder laws are pointless.

Do you mind sharing a liitle of that "proof" with us Dust? The article you got it from? And does the higher rate correlate with a higher rate of pregnancy, thus skewing the statistics?

[Dustdevil]

What's with all the double posts lately? :?

I'd be happy to share the stats with you if I still had them. Maybe you keep every newspaper, magazine, and journal around long after you have read them, but I don't. I absorb the info and discard the source. Otherwise, there would be no room to live in my home.

Not to mention the fact that I am NOT home and won't be for quite awhile.

Suffice it to say that I did not pull this out of my arse. It was a long study with published statistics, evaluating the impact of the law a couple of years after its passing.

[fire911medic]

Kentucky has this law as well. It was enacted in 2003, and was a big part of the EMS for children movement in the state. They are referred to as "Burcher babies" (forgive me I may have butchered the spelling). It allows any mother to surrender her newborn child up to 72 hours with absolutely no questions asked. They may be given to any designated safe place. Typically it is a police station, hospital, fire department, or EMS facility. We have forms which the mother can fill out (typically they don't but some do) and if baby is not reclaimed, within 30 days the state moves forward to terminate parental rights. I am unsure of what the issue is if the baby's father were to question the surrender. To my knowledge, that has not happened yet. We will accept children older than that as a surrender, but the process to terminate parental rights moves much quicker I have been told. I think it is a God send to young mothers who are desperate and really feel like they have no other alternative. Granted I think they should have thought long before this point, but it does provide options. Just my thoughts and how things go in the bluegrass.

[EMT001]

In New Jersey, you can drop off any infant at a hospital, firehouse, police station, or ambulance building and be free from prosecution. You actually have to leave it with somebody, you cannot just drop it off outside. I believe we call them "Safe Haven" laws.