State sees increase in infant surrenders under expanded Safe Haven law

Iowa officials are acknowledging that the state’s Safe Haven law, expanded in 2023, has led to an increase in babies being safely surrendered to first responders in the state instead of being abandoned.

Each state has its own version of a safe haven law, meant to curtail infant abandonment by offering parents a safe and secure way to legally surrender an infant they feel unable to care for. Iowa’s law was expanded in 2023 to allow the use of Safe Haven Baby Boxes or other similar devices so that infants can be surrendered anonymously. The law allows the surrender of infants up to 90 days old.

Iowa’s director of Health and Human Services, Kelly Garcia, said that since the updated law’s passage two years ago, the state has seen an increase in infant surrenders. Though 72 babies have been surrendered since the law was first implemented in 2002, 22% of all those babies have been surrendered in just the last two years.

“We don’t want to have stigma associated with this choice,” Garcia said. “The ability for individuals to understand that that is an option and that they can do it anonymously without fear of prosecution is key to making sure that we create that safe environment for a safe haven baby.”

Just recently, a baby born on November 11 was surrendered to officials, according to a press release issued by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. That surrender marked the sixth of 2024.

The state currently has two Safe Haven Baby Boxes to allow anonymous surrenders, and they are looking to add a third in the community of Norwalk, where a mother pled guilty last year to killing her newborn child.

“I think it’s important that we’re offering another solution,” said Norwalk Fire Chief Jennifer Porter. “And I think that this project could go beyond the city of Norwalk. We could be available to people in this side of the state and the side of our county.”

Though Safe Haven Baby Boxes are an option for anonymous surrenders, officials emphasized that surrenders can be legally made at any fully-staffed fire station or hospital in the state, or by calling 911.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]