Several Hospitals to Take Spurned Newborns—No Questions Asked
By Ruth Teichroeb, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter
Originally published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 6, 2001
In an effort to save the lives of abandoned babies, eight local hospitals have agreed to let desperate parents leave unwanted newborns in their emergency rooms—no questions asked.
And prosecutors in three counties have promised not to file abandonment charges, as long as the babies are delivered unharmed within three days of birth.
The hospitals and prosecutors agreed to take part in the Safe Place for Newborns program launched by two retired Bothell nurses who were tired of waiting for the Legislature to act.
"We felt something had to be done," said Virginia Pfalzer, who organized the non-profit program along with her neighbor, Joan Dedman. "It's much better to take the baby to the hospital than put it in the Dumpster."
The abandonment of a newborn baby next to a Magnolia sidewalk in March 2000 prompted Pfalzer and Dedman to ask questions about how to better protect such vulnerable lives.
PARTICIPATING HOSPITALS |
Proposed "safe haven" legislation that would legalize newborn drop-offs at hospitals statewide passed the state Senate but stalled in the House this spring.
While supportive of the proposed law, Pfalzer and Dedman decided not to wait. They set up a branch of the Safe Place program already established in Minnesota and Alabama, and persuaded hospitals and prosecutors in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties to support them.
"We would not envision (filing a charge) if a healthy child is left at a consenting hospital," Dan Donohoe, spokesman for King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, said yesterday.
Participating hospitals will ask parents to volunteer medical information for the sake of the infant, but names are not required.
"If it can save one life, it's worth it," said Kendra Weil, spokeswoman for Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland.
Hospital staff will notify the state Department of Social and Health Services after an abandoned infant is dropped off, and the baby will be placed in foster care until an adoption can be arranged—a process that usually takes four to six months.
While some hospitals were worried about legal liability, others agreed to serve as a receiving location once prosecutors supported the program, Pfalzer said.
Under state law, child abandonment is a felony and can result in a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. But a parent is rarely prosecuted unless the infant is left in a dangerous place or is abused.
Although no one is sure how many babies are abandoned annually in Washington, there were two publicized cases last year and two this year. Nationally, about 90 cases of newborn abandonment were documented last year. One-third of the infants died.
At least 14 states have passed safe-haven laws over the last two years, while about two dozen others are considering such legislation. The Oregon Legislature passed a safe-haven bill Monday.
Safe-haven laws in other states have not prevented all abandonments. Two months ago, an abandoned newborn was found dead in a public restroom in Minnesota, while at least 11 babies were abandoned in Florida in the first six months after that state's safe-haven law was enacted last July.
But Pfalzer said the Safe Place program in Minnesota has prevented abandonments by helping pregnant women who call for help before resorting to such a desperate act.
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, who sponsored the safe-haven bill, said it's unlikely the Washington legislation will be approved this year because some legislators believe it encourages child abandonment.
The legislation would grant immunity from prosecution for parents who leave off unharmed newborns at hospitals, and provide $200,000 to publicize this alternative and better options, such as adoption.
Even girls under 18 can contact an adoption agency or DSHS and arrange to give up a baby without needing parents' permission. But a major sticking point is that the baby's father must be notified of the birth and relinquish legal rights. If his identity is unknown, legal notification of the birth, including the mother's last name, must be published.
A Seattle single mother who adopted an abandoned infant 18 months ago is thrilled about the Safe Place program. Julie, who doesn't want her last name used to protect her daughter, said, "This will not only help the moms, but hopefully save babies' lives. We don't know how many babies are never even found."
Her daughter was abandoned in July 1998 in woods near Angle Lake in SeaTac. Wrapped in a flannel shirt, she was found next to a path by two girls walking there.
Although the infant suffered only mild hypothermia, a few more hours might have been fatal, Julie said.
"These women need to have a safe place to go," Julie said.
The Safe Place program offers a national toll-free, 24-hour crisis line: 1-877-440-2229
Abandoned baby cases
MAY 11, 2001: A dead newborn baby was found in a storage shed in Mason County. The baby apparently was born in Tacoma to a young couple, who hid the newborn in a container in the shed to conceal the birth, according to Tacoma police.
APRIL 25, 2001: A dead newborn was found wrapped in a duffel bag in a trash bin at a Spokane Valley gasoline station.
SEPTEMBER 2000: A 17-year-old girl abandoned her newborn near a Puyallup convenience store and called 911 anonymously. Three days later the girl admitted she was the baby's mother. She was not prosecuted.
MARCH 2000: A newborn baby was abandoned next to a Magnolia sidewalk. A 12-year-old boy discovered the baby and called police.
OCTOBER 1999: A Fort Lewis soldier abandoned her newborn baby boy in a trash bin at the base. Two sergeants heard the baby crying two hours later and rescued him.
The mother got six years in prison for attempted murder.
MAY 1999: An off-duty nurse discovered a newborn baby girl in a duffel bag left in a restroom at Group Health Cooperative Medical Center in Tacoma.
The baby, born six weeks premature, was found with a typed note that said: "Please take care of this sweet baby. I, Jane Doe, do give you permission to give her to a good family."
NOVEMBER 1997: An employee discovered the body of a baby boy in a trash bin at a service station on Lake City Way in North Seattle.
Police were not able to find the baby's parents.
