Lawmakers in Georgia are hoping to pass a bill this coming session that would modify the state’s Safe Haven law to include baby boxes.
Currently in Georgia, an unharmed infant may be surrendered up to 30 days after birth to hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. The bill, which will be reintroduced once the next session begins in January, would amend that law to include baby boxes, which allow mothers to anonymously surrender their newborns, WTOC11 reported.
States across the nation have opened hundreds of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, which were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns in unsafe conditions, potentially leaving them to die.
Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals that can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Once the baby is inside the baby box the outside door locks and the mother has time to leave before an alarm goes off alerting first responders or hospital staff to the child’s presence.
The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the infant is usually placed into state custody and is often adopted quickly.
Amie Anderson, Founder of Bringing Newborn Safety Devices to Georgia, has been working with lawmakers for nearly 18 months to get approval for the bill, according to the local news outlet.
“It never leaves my mind. I fight for it every day and I will continue to fight for it every day until it passes in Georgia,” Anderson said.
Anderson has been working with state Rep. Clint Crowe (R), Rep. Steve Sainz (R), and Sen. Brian Strickland (R) and said lawmakers plan to quickly introduce identical state House and Senate bills.
“Hopefully that’ll make it number one, easy to get a vote across and it will make it easy when crossover time comes to approve it because they will have already approved it in the same exact language,” said Anderson.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.