Last week, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed a bipartisan bill which would allow certain emergency departments, such as fire departments, to install devices known as “baby boxes.” These boxes allow parents to safely surrender their newborn babies under three days old anonymously when they feel unable to parent.
Monica Kelsey, founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said in Wisconsin Morning Show why emergency facilities should install baby boxes. “With the culture changing, we need to advance this legislation… instead of continuing to find babies in garbage cans and dumpsters, now we can safely find babies in boxes in states that have it, and so we are trying to change the trend so that babies are not left to die,” she explained.
“Wisconsin had a [lot] of abandonments last year, and we are trying to fight that,” he added.
After she saw a baby box in South Africa, Kelsey brought the idea in the United States. “It’s a personal mission for me to make sure no one ends up like my birth mother and no one ends up like me. And so, if that means for the rest of my life I’m running an organization to try and keep these babies and these moms safe from persecution, then that’s what I’m going to do,” said Kelsey, who was abandoned as a baby. .
The US has seen 17 babies safely surrendered in various states using baby boxes this year alone.
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Kelsey explained that Wisconsin Safe Haven Law has been around for 22 years and allows parents to surrender their newborn to a police officer, 911 emergency medical staff person or a hospital staff member, no questions asked. A recent bill updates that law to allow hospitals and fully staffed fire and police stations to install ventilated, temperature-controlled “baby boxes” on exterior walls to it’s easier for parents to give their babies anonymously.
After a newborn is placed in a baby box, the box locks and triggers an alarm, alerting firefighters. The baby wasn’t there for long, and Kelsey explained, “It’s a safe option, and we have to respect that.”
“Pro-Life Wisconsin supports efforts to prevent the illegal abandonment of newborn babies, which often results in their tragic deaths, by offering ways to give newborns them legally and safely to the proper authorities,” said Matt Sande, Pro-Life Wisconsin Legislative Director, to WIS Politics.
He added, “Act 79 gives localities and new parents in crisis the option of safe haven baby boxes. A ‘baby box’ avoids the visible, face-to-face contact that might hinder a spontaneous parent from the safe release of her newborn child. We thank Senator Ballweg and Representative Schutt for their dedicated work in passing this critical legislation with bipartisan support, and we thank Governor Evers for signing it into law. We know it will save lives.”
