A fire station in Madison, Alabama, is readying the state’s first Safe Haven Baby Box so mothers and fathers in crisis will be able to surrender their babies with no questions asked beginning early next year.
“The main purpose of the fire station is life saving. If this box saves one child in 20 years, that’s one child that made it because this box is available. That’s worth it to us,” said Madison Fire and Rescue spokesman, Dan Pickens.
The fire station, Station No.1, located at 101 Mill Road in Madison, is following the state of Alabama’s recent law that allows parents to surrender infants anonymously at fire stations with around-the-clock operation performed by emergency personnel. Infants up to 45 days of age can be surrendered. Alabama’s old law allowed parents to surrender their infants up to three days old at hospitals only.
According to AL.Com, the Safe Haven Baby Box “will be installed in an exterior wall. The front of the box will be accessible to the public until a child is inside and the back of the box will open into the fire station where firefighters trained in infant care will be alerted when the box is occupied.”
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Pickens told AL.Com that parents can surrender their infants without fearing the law or others knowing about their actions because the emergency staff will not communicate with the parents, and no photographs will be taken.
Safe haven laws have been passed in every state to keep desperate parents from abandoning their newborns. Rep. Donna Givens, who sponsored Alabama’s Safe Haven bill, Bill HB473, was inspired to do so by a similar bill passed in Mississippi. Givens’ Bill HB473, was unanimously passed by the Alabama Senate and House and was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey, going into effect on Sept. 1.
Givens explained her reasons for sponsoring Alabama’s Safe Haven Baby Box Bill. “Number one and most important, saving babies’ lives. Number two, it’s saving the mother from making the mistake of her life that she will regret for the rest of her life. And number three, it’s putting a baby in a loving couple’s arms that desperately wants a baby.”
Alabama is one of 17 states that have legalized Safe Haven Baby Boxes. There are over 100 baby boxes in use nationally, in Alabama and other states, including Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Florida.
These simple boxes are saving lives every day, and, as Madison Fire and Rescue spokesman Pickens said, every single life is worth it. “A child has a whole future in front of them.”
