BabySafeHaven
02-03-2004, 10:38 AM
MASSACHUSETTS
http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2004/02/03/news/news/news01.txt
Two local towns seek safe havens
By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer
As her neighbors shoveled snow 1-1/2 months ago, Marion Bois of Whitman went
door-to-door asking them to sign a petition calling for the town to pass its
own law allowing parents to leave unwanted infants at designated sites without
fear of prosecution.
Within a day, she had enough signatures to place the issue of creating a
so-called safe haven before the Whitman town meeting on May 3, one of a growing
number of communities throughout the state trying to do it.
"How can you be against it?" Bois asked. "How can anyone be against it? ... I
can't imagine a baby in a Dumpster. The needs of the baby need to be
protected."
Whitman, Wareham and 11 other communities expect to ask their town meeting
voters to approve a home rule petition allowing parents to leave unwanted
infants at fire departments, police departments and hospital emergency rooms.
If the petitions are backed by voters, the Legislature will have to approve the
move before it can take effect. Seven other municipalities have already
approved the "safe haven" home rule petition and are waiting legislative
approval.
"It's a topic that needs to be explored," Wareham Selectman Mary Jane Pillsbury
said.
The local efforts come as state lawmakers consider again a statewide safe haven
bill, more than a 1-1/2 years after it stalled in the Legislature.
"This should have been implemented years ago," state Rep. Thomas J. O'Brien,
D-Kingston, said. "The intention of this vehicle is very simple: it is to
provide a safe haven for infants. It is plain and simple and it just makes
sense. Our primary focus needs to be the life of the infant."
Texas passed the nation's first safe haven law in 1999, and 44 states followed
suit, including New Hampshire.
Michael Morrisey, who is leading the statewide home rule charge with his wife,
called the measures a "proactive solution" to a potentially deadly problem. "We
are looking to save the lives of infants," he said.
Morrisey and his wife, Jean, first became involved after they were asked to
oversee the burial of an infant, dubbed "Baby Rebecca," found dead Nov. 1,
2001, at St. Mary's Cemetery in Dorchester . The couple, who head the Bonnie
Babies Foundation that provides counseling in cases of miscarriage, still
births and neonatal losses as well as advocating for burial rights, quickly
became involved in the safe haven effort.
Morrisey, of Lexington, said the movement is spreading, but "we are thinking it
should be going faster."
The House approved a version of a statewide safe haven bill in October 2002 but
it later died in the Senate after some children's advocacy groups opposed it.
The House will take up the issue again on Feb. 10.
State Rep. Kathleen Teahan, D-Whitman, said the measure fails to address
paternal rights or provide essential family health information the infant will
need in adult life.
"I think the majority of abandoned babies have been left by women who have been
in total denial," she said. "Emotionally, they don't have the capabilities to
make choices."
She said educating pregnant women about adoption, neonatal programs and
counseling programs, and expanding those efforts, would be the best solution.
Teahan said it will cost about $50,000 to train firefighters and police
officers if the safe haven bill is passed.
She said she is pressing for an amendment to the bill that would also provide
that same amount of money for existing programs to help pregnant women.
"People should see there are multiple components to this," she said. "I would
like it to be done in the right way for the baby and the mother ... I believe
every life is extremely valuable and important. As a society, it is very
important to help people and save every baby."
http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2004/02/03/news/news/news01.txt
Two local towns seek safe havens
By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer
As her neighbors shoveled snow 1-1/2 months ago, Marion Bois of Whitman went
door-to-door asking them to sign a petition calling for the town to pass its
own law allowing parents to leave unwanted infants at designated sites without
fear of prosecution.
Within a day, she had enough signatures to place the issue of creating a
so-called safe haven before the Whitman town meeting on May 3, one of a growing
number of communities throughout the state trying to do it.
"How can you be against it?" Bois asked. "How can anyone be against it? ... I
can't imagine a baby in a Dumpster. The needs of the baby need to be
protected."
Whitman, Wareham and 11 other communities expect to ask their town meeting
voters to approve a home rule petition allowing parents to leave unwanted
infants at fire departments, police departments and hospital emergency rooms.
If the petitions are backed by voters, the Legislature will have to approve the
move before it can take effect. Seven other municipalities have already
approved the "safe haven" home rule petition and are waiting legislative
approval.
"It's a topic that needs to be explored," Wareham Selectman Mary Jane Pillsbury
said.
The local efforts come as state lawmakers consider again a statewide safe haven
bill, more than a 1-1/2 years after it stalled in the Legislature.
"This should have been implemented years ago," state Rep. Thomas J. O'Brien,
D-Kingston, said. "The intention of this vehicle is very simple: it is to
provide a safe haven for infants. It is plain and simple and it just makes
sense. Our primary focus needs to be the life of the infant."
Texas passed the nation's first safe haven law in 1999, and 44 states followed
suit, including New Hampshire.
Michael Morrisey, who is leading the statewide home rule charge with his wife,
called the measures a "proactive solution" to a potentially deadly problem. "We
are looking to save the lives of infants," he said.
Morrisey and his wife, Jean, first became involved after they were asked to
oversee the burial of an infant, dubbed "Baby Rebecca," found dead Nov. 1,
2001, at St. Mary's Cemetery in Dorchester . The couple, who head the Bonnie
Babies Foundation that provides counseling in cases of miscarriage, still
births and neonatal losses as well as advocating for burial rights, quickly
became involved in the safe haven effort.
Morrisey, of Lexington, said the movement is spreading, but "we are thinking it
should be going faster."
The House approved a version of a statewide safe haven bill in October 2002 but
it later died in the Senate after some children's advocacy groups opposed it.
The House will take up the issue again on Feb. 10.
State Rep. Kathleen Teahan, D-Whitman, said the measure fails to address
paternal rights or provide essential family health information the infant will
need in adult life.
"I think the majority of abandoned babies have been left by women who have been
in total denial," she said. "Emotionally, they don't have the capabilities to
make choices."
She said educating pregnant women about adoption, neonatal programs and
counseling programs, and expanding those efforts, would be the best solution.
Teahan said it will cost about $50,000 to train firefighters and police
officers if the safe haven bill is passed.
She said she is pressing for an amendment to the bill that would also provide
that same amount of money for existing programs to help pregnant women.
"People should see there are multiple components to this," she said. "I would
like it to be done in the right way for the baby and the mother ... I believe
every life is extremely valuable and important. As a society, it is very
important to help people and save every baby."
