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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Ind. Law - More on "Key to safe-haven law is spreading the word"

This ILB entry from June 26, 2008, headed "Key to safe-haven law is spreading the word," quotes from Lesley Stedman Weidenbener's report on Indiana's Safe Haven Law:

Since Indiana enacted the law, the National Safe Haven Alliance has recorded six lives saved in the state and 20 illegal abandonments, of which at least seven were fatal.
Today, more than 7 months later, a story by John Tuohy in the Indianapolis Star reports:
The Indiana Safe Haven Law allows mothers to drop off their babies, anonymously and with no questions asked, at any firehouse, police station or hospital within 45 days of birth.

Yet Natalie is one of only six babies to have been legally abandoned in Indiana since 2001. During that same time, 22 babies in Indiana were abandoned illegally, and seven of them died.

More from the story:
Advocates and experts say mothers don't take advantage of the law because they don't know about it. If more people were aware of it, they say, a 17-year-old Lawrence Central High School student who recently dropped off her newborn in 9-degree weather might have made a different decision -- and might not be facing criminal charges.

"There's not enough education about this out there, and we really haven't gotten it into the classroom like we should," said Bob Floyd, president of the Indiana Safe Haven Alliance.

State Sen. James W. Merritt Jr., R-Indianapolis, one of the authors of the Safe Haven Law, said he's disappointed the program has yielded such scant results.

"I'm frankly surprised when someone does use Safe Haven," Merritt said. "It is so hard to get the message through to kids today because there is so much information going through their filters."

Merritt is launching a publicity campaign to increase the law's visibility. It includes a public service announcement and, in acknowledgment of the law's grim purpose, stickers that would be slapped on trash bins.

While some states, such as Illinois, require signs that explain the law in all police stations, firehouses and emergency rooms, Indiana does not. But juvenile court Judge Marilyn Moores said she doubted how effective that would be.

"If they see the sign, they're already there and have made a decision," Moores said. "I'd like to see posters in schools. That is where they'd be most effective."

Indiana's public schools do not require students to tell teachers when they are pregnant, and pregnancy counseling is voluntary, said Jason Bearce, a spokesman for the state Department of Education. There also is no requirement for schools to educate children about the Safe Haven Law.

In Indianapolis Public Schools, education about the Safe Haven Law is not part of any formal curriculum or informal educational effort, said Kim Hooper, an IPS spokeswoman.

"I've never seen a sign in any school," she said.

Merritt would like to see schools do more.

Beyond greater awareness, though, Moores sees another problem with the Safe Haven Law that she said might discourage teens from using it: the requirement that a mother drop off her baby in person.

"Most of these young mothers don't have a car, a license or even access to transportation," said Moores, who wants mothers to be allowed to call an ambulance or police car to pick up their babies. "In addition, it is probably too much to ask them to trudge to a fire station after they just gave birth."

But Merritt sees problems with that change.

"The mothers have 45 days to make a decision, plenty of time to find out how to get to the hospital," he said. "It gives them time to think about what they are doing one last time rather than calling an ambulance right away, and then there's no turning back."

Indiana's Safe Haven Law is found at IC 31-34-2.5.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 8, 2009 09:05 AM
Posted to Indiana Law