Nebraska Safe Haven Law expansion sent to governor’s desk
New law will extend timeframe and dropoff locations
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nearing the finish line for this session, the Nebraska Legislature overwhelmingly passed an expansion of the state’s Safe Haven Law.
LB876 passed 47-0 on Thursday, with State Sens. Jane Raybould of Lincoln and Barry DeKay of Niobrara excused from voting.
The bill would allow parents to surrender an infant at police and fire stations that are staffed 24/7. Parents would also be able to call 911 to let emergency services take a baby to safety.
Despite it being legal in other states across the country, it’s illegal in Nebraska to surrender an infant at a fire or police station. The current law allows parents to surrender their infant face-to-face only at a hospital, and only within 30 days of birth.
Nebraska’s current Safe Haven Law, passed in 2008, allows infants to be surrendered only at hospitals, face to face. The first version of the law originally allowed parents to surrender children up to 18 years old at a hospital. That was quickly changed — but not until 36 children, none of which were newborns, were left in the state’s care.
The new bill, introduced this session by State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, also extends the age at which the baby can be surrendered from 30 days old to three months old.
“We’ve had a number of close calls where babies have essentially been abandoned,” Holdcroft said about the bill earlier this year. “If it weren’t for a Good Samaritan coming along, that baby’s life might’ve been lost.”
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services data obtained in January by 6 News shows nearly 200 infants younger than a year old have been considered abandoned since the state’s Safe Haven Law went into effect in 2008. Yet, in the same timeframe, only 14 babies fell under the current Safe Haven Law and its stipulations.
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