SAN ANTONIO – Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a measure that will expand the “Moses Law,” which allows parents to drop off newborns at specific locations in the state without legal consequences.
The new law would now allow these places of safe haven, such as police departments, fire departments, and hospitals, to install a “newborn restraint,” often referred to as a “baby box,” where the child can be placed.
Under the measure, these devices should be located within a facility that is staffed 24 hours a day and in an area visible to employees. They would also need to contain an alarm that will sound when a baby is placed.
Currently, parents who feel unprepared to care for their newborn can deliver their baby to certain “safe haven” locations, including hospitals, freestanding emergency centers, and emergency medical service stations.
“While this is a big step in the right direction, we can do more in our community to protect families and newborn babies. The law is only effective if parents in crisis are aware of it and can choose to use it instead of abandoning their baby,” said San Antonio City District 9 Councilman John Courage.
According to the city of San Antonio, Pamela Allen, executive director of Eagle’s Flight, has assisted with the burials of nearly 40 children in the San Antonio area, including abandoned or murdered babies.
Allen has also called for expanding the Baby Moses Law since he buried “Baby Noel,” a 3-day-old baby strangled by his mother before being discarded in a duffel bag, which was later found at a waste processing center. of Saint Anthony.
“The decision to implement Baby Boxes in Texas is a big step in the fight against abandonment,” Allen said.
Currently, the law states that if a person has a newborn that they are unable to care for, they can take their baby to a designated safe place with no questions asked. The Safe Haven Act, also known as the Baby Moses Act, provides parents who are unable to care for their child a safe and legal option to leave their baby with an employee of a hospital, fire station, emergency center, or police station. emergency medical services (EMS).
With the new law, the police and fire departments are added. The law goes into effect on September 1.
