Senators propose safe haven law

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By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska may be one of the lonely holdouts on the safe haven issue — one of just three states that don’t have a law allowing mothers to take unwanted newborns to local hospitals or fire stations.

Two state senators, Rich Pahls of Omaha and Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center, have proposed two safe-haven measures that would put Nebraska into the mainstream.

The measure allows mothers who need anonymity — undocumented immigrants, teens, women involved with violent partners — to remain anonymous, Pahls said.

Such a law could reduce the number of infants abandoned in trash bins or toilets, said Sara Juster, a vice president at the Methodist Health System.

“Give people an option if they are going to throw away their newborn,” she said.

Not everyone thinks a safe haven law is the best option.

Opponents say a better option is to provide money to help educate people about adoption and the agencies that work with adoption.

Safe haven laws have unintended consequences, they say.

For example, such laws can provide an incentive for abandonment, said Susan Sapp, a Lincoln attorney who works with private adoptions.

There are ways to do adoptions that protect the identify of birth mothers, said Sapp, who said she has done three confidential adoptions in the past year where only she, the judge and the adoptive parents knew who the birth mom was.

Women in crisis who are thinking about abandoning a child are not the kind of people who are aware of the legal system, Sapp said. They are not going to stop and say, “I think a saw something about a new safe haven law. I think I’ll go to the fire station,” she told senators during a hearing on LB6 and LB157.

Nebraska, she said, should “stand strong” as one of the states without a safe haven law. Having one does not mean it is doing good things, she said.

A Nebraska Medical Association task force of doctors and physicians established after the first safe haven law was introduced three years ago concluded it does not make sense to pass a safe haven law, said David Buntain, representing the medical association.

Safe haven laws are causing problems, not stopping them, he said, referring to a study by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute called “Unintended Consequences.”

“Babies left in police stations and hospitals face long-term foster care and are deprived of all ties to families of origin,” said Grace Sundermeier, a licensed mental health practitioner.

Safe haven laws offer “little to help frightened adolescents and women facing abuses or mental illness,” she said, adding that it would be better to educate the public about resources already available.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.