Legislation to expand Florida’s "Safe Haven" policy is now awaiting Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature after passing through the state legislature.
The existing "Safe Haven" law made it legal to surrender unwanted infants, as long as they are given up unharmed to certain drop-off locations, including hospitals and fire stations.
The expanded bill would give women 30 days to drop off the newborn, up from the current seven-day time limit. The bill would also authorize 911 dispatchers to arrange an infant drop-off location in instances where the child's parents do not have transportation available to reach an agency's drop-off location.
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"I think, basically, people were just wanting to give moms more time. And, other states have 30 days, and it's a positive thing, really," A Safe Haven for Newborns CEO Nick Silverio told Fox 13. "[The mother] might be going through postpartum. She might be going through a medical condition that she had delivering the baby… this just gives her more time."
An adoption agency in St. Petersburg, Florida, said this is the perfect time for the expanded law, after the six-week abortion ban took effect in the Sunshine State.
"I think we're going to see with the six-week [abortion] ban, we're going to see an increase. I come from child welfare for over 30 years, and we're going to see an increase in those children coming in for care," Connie Going of Going Adoption and Surrogacy told Fox 13.
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"I think that we're going to see an increase in adoptions," she continued. "I think we're going to see an increase in parenting, which means we as communities have to step up and provide services that support families."
The bill comes after a baby was found dead last week in a garbage can on the campus of the University of Tampa. The mother told police she delivered the baby in her dorm bathroom, where the child briefly cried before dying, court records showed, Fox 13 reported.
The mother initially said she was unaware she was pregnant, but later told police she may have been in denial about not being pregnant and had not had a period in about a year.
