Gina Ponzi
February 25th, 2009
12:00 AM
What do we learn from Nebraska’s “Safe Haven” law? Semantics matter. While Nebraska’s “safe haven” law has good intentions, authorities should have been more careful with their choice of words. The intention behind the law is to protect infants from danger, and to help mothers (particularly young, single moms) who may feel trapped and afraid of raising a child. The law states that any parent or guardian may anonymously drop off a child at a hospital with no fear of persecution. Apparently, they should have been a little more specific; rather than receiving swaddled infants, hospitals have been surprised to find troubled (or troubling) teenagers at their doorstep. Every state has safe haven laws, but Nebraska’s is the only state that fails to specify an age limit.
I believe that the safe haven policy is a great illustration of society working towards endowing all people with human rights. The safe haven policy provides safety for mothers and infants, and presents a wonderful alternative to abortion, which, (besides being solely a matter of ethics), can cause a plethora of health and emotional problems for would-have-been mothers. Our constitution states that all humans are entitled to the basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the “safe haven” law prevents unborn children and infants from being denied these fundamental rights. Despite these advantages, however, I do believe that there should be some stipulations on age. The policy is not intended to allow parents to relinquish responsibility of dealing with troublesome parenting issues; rather, it is intended to protect infants in immediate danger.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/10/08/nebraska.safe.haven/index.html
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