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Group Wants Safe Haven Law Expanded
Saying 49 babies saved is a tribute to the Safe Haven law, a group of supporters want new mothers to have more time to safely abandon their babies.

The Safe Haven law allows mothers to relinquish a baby up to 7 days old. But the group that first proposed the law, the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation, says it's time to extend that to 30 days old. Group executive Dawn Geras says though she doesn't have any numbers on babies between 7 days old and 30 days old that could have been safely abandoned, she says she’s confident that babies in that age range could be saved if this law is extended.

Mom Tanya Arcos agrees. She doesn't want anyone to know her hometown, but does live in Illinois and adopted one of the "Safe Haven" babies, who's now 3 years old. She says her heart goes out to the birth mother who gave up her baby safely, and says with the Safe Haven law, things could have been "very different" for the baby.

Geras says of the 54 babies that were illegally abandoned over the lifetime of the law, 27 died.

Another provision of the proposal would allow a mother to fill out less information in a packet. Geras says the current packet requires a name, social security number, notary public seal and a $40 fee, and she says it's more important to obtain basic medical history.

(Illinois Radio Network)
03 17 09 by Newsroom
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