Abandoned newborn dies; lawmaker seeks another option

Posted at 3:30 p.m. on April 15, 2019

The Brillion News

MADISON – It was during the first week of April when Wood County deputies found a missing newborn baby in an abandoned vehicle in a hospital parking lot.

The baby boy was in a garbage bag and bath towel, and efforts to save him failed.

That’s why State Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, if working with police, hospitals and EMS personnel to draft a bill that would provide resources for people seeking safe haven places for surrendering a child they can not care for.

Wisconsin has a safe haven law that allows parents of a newborn to surrender a child within 72 hours of birth without facing any criminal prosecution. Kooyenga said it needs to go father.

“Our bill would allow for the creation of newborn safe boxes to be placed at medical centers and law enforcement agencies so that parents may place their unwanted child in a Safe Hevsn baby box,” Kooyenga said.

The boxes would be heated in the winter, cooled in the summer and have a silent alarm that notified emergency personnel within 30 seconds of a baby being placed in it. Indiana, Ohio and Arizona already have those boxes.

“The protection of life begins at conception, but our role in the pro-life movement does not stop at birth – it continues through all stages,” Kooyenga said.

For information abot the Safe Haven Baby Box initiative, visit  http://www.safehavenbabyboxes.com/