By Carolina Puga Mendoza

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—The Senate Family and Children Services Committee unanimously approved the Safe Haven extension bill on Monday.

House Bill 1230 passed by a 9-0 vote.

The current Safe Haven law allows parents to anonymously give up newborn babies who are 30 days old or younger to a member of emergency medical staff. Currently, only hospitals and fire departments are the designated areas to surrender a newborn. The law dictates there are no questions asked of those who leave the baby.

HB 1230, authored by Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, would extend the Safe Haven program by also allowing parents to call emergency services to retrieve the baby in case the guardian cannot take the baby to a Safe Haven location.

Several individuals testified in support, ranging from the Indiana Public Defender Council to the Fire Department Association and the pro-life organization Right to Life.

“We believe this will become a valuable tool for struggling parents who lack the means to transport a child to a Safe Haven or one of these newborn safety devices,” said Christopher Bandy of the Indiana Public Defender Council. “This is a common-sense solution to a monumental issue in this state that will hopefully save children’s lives and provide them with a loving family and home.”

Additionally, HB 1032, authored by Rep. Randall Frye, R-Greensburg, would extend the locations to drop off a baby to areas that have medical staff on standby. This is in response to rural areas that would otherwise not qualify due to a lack of hospitals nearby.

“If we’re truly pro-life, we have to give mothers and crisis pregnancy an option. This is that option, or we can find children on the sidewalk or in dumpsters,” Frye said.

Of the 60 newborn safety devices or “baby boxes” nationwide, 53 are in Indiana; they’re all located in hospitals and fire departments.

Joseph Kelsey, mayor of Woodburn in northeastern Indiana and co-founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, a non-profit organization that installs baby boxes for safe abandonment, testified in support of HB 1032. The boxes are an option for parents to anonymously give up their newborn in a safe way, he said, as an alarm is triggered alerting medical services to attend to the baby.

“I do support this bill as we believe that every mother in distress, even in our rural areas, should have the ability to use a baby box if she so chooses,” Kelsey said. “It has always been our mission to prevent deadly abandonment across our state and across the country.”

According to the National Safe Haven Alliance, more than 4,000 babies were surrendered nationwide under Safe Haven laws between 1999 and 2018. Similarly, according to the Chicago Tribune, reports say that 48 babies have been given up in Indiana since 2008.

HB 1032 will undergo further review before the Family and Children’s Services Committee votes on it. The committee will reconvene to vote and amend the bill with a tentative date of March 22.

FOOTNOTE: Carolina Puga Mendoza is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.