NOW - NEW YORK STATE SUPPORT MEMO
Abandoned Infants
A6092 (Paulin) S2950 (Klein)
|
Search Site With  |
|
|
|
April 2009
NOW-NYS strongly supports the new abandoned-infants legislation, A 6092 (Paulin) and S2950 (Klein), which would amend the 2000 Abandoned Infant Protection Act in two important ways. First, the bill eliminates criminal liability for persons who leave infants in safe, appropriate, locations before the child is thirty days old. Second, the bill removes an existing requirement for determining the identity of a person abandoning an infant; and it also speeds up the process for adopting abandoned infants. Thus the bill provides for the safe and anonymous abandonment of unwanted infants.
Since the original Act's implementation, one hundred twelve adoptions have occurred ("Parents in Crisis Have Many Options for Giving Babies Haven Officials Say" by Tina Kelley, The New York Times - March 5, 2008). But the current amending act furthers the original intent by removing unintended barriers and facilitating earlier placement of abandoned infants in permanent homes.
This elimination of the abandoning-parent identity requirement will greatly reduce the possibility of infanticide, in those women who fear being found out by parents or abusive spouses often abandon babies unsafely. Indeed, many dead newborns are found each year in the New York City area alone.
The current law misleads women into believing they will remain anonymous, when in fact they do not. The new bill's explicit spelling-out of parental anonymity, along with its extending the decision window from five to thirty days, will ensure a far more safe and positive environment. In short, the new abandoned-infants legislation will better protect the safety and welfare of New York State infants.
Marcia A. Pappas
President
|
