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Safe surrender

 September 15, 2007

A California bill that saves lives

The California State Assembly on Sept. 11 overwhelmingly passed Assemblyman Alberto Torrico’s (D-Newark) Safe Surrender Baby bill, giving a mother seven days to leave her newborn baby at a designated hospital or fire station if she wishes to place it for adoption anonymously.

Since California’s first Safe Baby Surrender law took effect in 2001, at least 200 babies have been safely left by their mothers at designated protective facilities. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in the same time period, another 150 were abandoned in such places as restrooms, alleys, and trash containers, but found alive; and at least 23 additional abandoned babies have been found deceased. The original law allowed only 72 hours to surrender a newborn baby anonymously.

In a statement to the press, Torrico has said he is convinced that instances of abandonment would decrease if mothers had more time to use the safe-surrender option, if more safe havens were available, and if more people were aware of the program.

Torrico’s original proposal, since revised, would have allowed 30 days for safe surrender; but Los Angeles County, which leads the state in safe surrenders, opposed such a large time extension, fearing that abusive parents would take advantage of an extended time period to wait for signs of abuse to fade before turning their unwanted child over to the state.

"The safe haven law was created on the basis of medical research that indicated that newborns that are under 72 hours old are at greatest risk of physical harm," said an expert cited by the Chronicle.

Safe surrender laws have since been enacted in 46 other U.S. states.

Under the current California law, the newborn receives a coded bracelet for identification so that after a 14-day cooling off period, the mother can return to reclaim the child if she wishes. Since the program began, only one mother expressed an interest in reclaiming her child, but didn't pursue the option. Surrendered newborns are given medical care and placed in a foster or pre-adoptive home.

Under AB 81, there will be no criminal liability on a parent who safely surrenders his or her child within seven days of birth. As with the previous measures, parents can still be prosecuted if a child was abused.

East Bay Assemblyman Torrico told the Chronicle, “The people in the medical community and the firefighters who must deal on the front line with an abandoned or safely surrendered child are in strong support of this bill.” AB 81 was also endorsed by the Califonia Catholic Conference.

Torrico, who said he was haunted by the death of a baby abandoned in a restaurant in Newark, a mile from his home, is raising contributions privately to add to the public funding for the Safe Surrender program's public awareness campaign.

Torrico's measure also establishes a toll-free phone number providing information about the program. Governor Schwartzenegger has pledged to sign AB 81 into law within the next few weeks.

Copyright California Catholic Daily 2007. All Rights Reserved.

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