Nebraska’s Safe haven law
Okay, so here is the way the law was designed: when a young mom, new mom, or a mom who can not take care of her newborn wants to just give up her baby, she can only if she knows that the baby is going to be harmed in anyway, hence not going to be taken care of properly. I guess first before a baby is taken, the mom will have to go through counceling and then decide if she wants the baby or not.
When law makers designed the law, originally, though(in July the law was passed), it was meant for infants and not for the older children to be abandoned at the hospitals. However, they did say in this ammendment that kids under the age of 19 are eligible for this Safe Haven Law in Nebraska, so therefore, this leave open doors for those parents that want to just abandon their kids just like that. In the past 24hrs though, there were 11cases of abandoned children at nebraska hospitals though.
The state legislature now is looking at trying to change this law so that it will be more understanding. Basically, you will need a damn good reason why you no longer want to parent your child/ren or else you will get charged with child neglegect and abandonment. And I also think that the state is going to charge the parent/s for child support if the state feels that it is not a good enough reason that the mom and or dad gave up their child/ren.
The dad that I spoke about in my last blog; his wife died 18months ago from cancer and has been since then struggling to make ends meet with financial issues. He felt that it would be in the best interest of the kids if he had them sent to a place where they would get the kind of care that they need financially.
Soon this law, however, will be changed so that it will not be so easy for parents to just abandon their child/ren at the hospitals here in nebraska
