LINCOLN, Neb. - Stung by the abandonments of children as old as 17 under Nebraska's new "safe haven" law, the governor and lawmakers agreed Monday to narrow the legislation's broad wording to protect only the parents of newborns from prosecution.
At least 18 children, the youngest 22 months and many of them teens, have been abandoned since the law took effect in July. Nebraska's law doesn't define the word "child," so it has been interpreted to let anyone leave child up to age 18 at a state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution for the abandonment.
Apparently Nebraska didn't dot all their I's and cross all their T's when then put their legislation into law. They have amended it now to accept up to a 3 three day old baby. Who could have imagined that anyone would take advantage of the loophole in this law? Obviously, these two parents decided that it was worth crossing state lines to take advantage of the state's oversight.
The rash of drop-offs included a teenage girl from Iowa and a Michigan boy whose mother drove to Omaha to leave him at a Omaha hospital.
I have had a teenager and like any one who has had one knows, there have been times when taking a little trip to Nebraska would have seemed a great little place to vacation. I kid but teenagers equal wanting to pull your hair out and I am assuming that these parents must have been at the end of their emotional ropes. For the kids, imagine trying to comprehend being abandoned by your parent. What a horrible place to find yourself, whether parent or child.
The first case I heard of was a widowed father who left all nine of his children at a hospital. I can't judge. My family was in a similiar situation. Apparently my grandfather's mother died and the father kept the five oldest children and adopted out the two youngest, my grandfather and his sister, the one I was supposedly named after. I don't remember much of the Story but there were bitter feelings between the father and the two he chose to abandoned. It changed their lives and how they reacted to those around them. Both were a bit wild and showed scars of losing their identity that lasted throughout their lives.
The idea of the safe haven law brought up a whole different kind of issue, one that lawmakers say they never saw coming. Don't know that there is an answer but if there is, it is no longer in Nebraska...
