Shenango Valley News

The Pennsylvania Senate has passed a bill introduced by Senator Michele Brooks to expand the state's Safe Haven Law. The legislation aims to allow parents to surrender their unharmed newborns at urgent care centers, in addition to the existing options of hospitals, police stations, and EMS stations.

Senator Brooks expressed her commitment to enhancing the law: “This bill adds to my longtime efforts to strengthen the Safe Haven Law in Pennsylvania, which is dedicated to saving innocent infants that are abandoned in harm’s way.” She highlighted that urgent care centers provide accessible locations for parents and emphasized increasing awareness about these safe haven options.

Senate Bill 267 specifies that parents can surrender their newborns within 28 days of birth without facing penalties if the baby is unharmed and not a victim of a crime. The legislation mandates healthcare providers at urgent care centers to take any abandoned newborn into protective custody and ensure transport to a hospital for further care. Urgent care centers accepting newborns must also display signs indicating their operating hours.

Since 2003, Pennsylvania's Safe Haven Law has reportedly saved 50 babies' lives according to estimates from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Nationally, between 1999 and 2013, around 2,138 babies were safely relinquished under similar laws.

The bill is now awaiting the governor's signature before becoming law.