- Linda Barzley
- BBC, Ariz
Michael with his daughter
The abolition of the constitutional right to abortion played a major role in the recent US midterm elections. Among the suggestions that were made to the Supreme Court last summer when it considered the invalidation of what is known as the “Roe v. Wade” law that guaranteed this right to women, is that it is possible to find an alternative to abortion in the so-called “safe harbor” laws.
These laws apply in all states in the United States and allow mothers to anonymously abandon their newborns at sites designated for that purpose, without falling under the law.
Below are the stories of three people impacted by US Safe Harbor laws.
the mother
It was a dark, rainy winter night on the vast plains of Arizona. Michelle was driving down a deserted road when she suddenly stopped.
Michelle recalls that she was in “excruciating pain and didn’t have enough time to go to the hospital.” Michelle put her baby in the car, next to a creek 20 miles from the nearest town.
“I was so scared. I remember starting to pray and I was calling my mother…how I wish my mother was by my side.”
While Michelle gave birth, her other young daughter slept in the back seat. Michelle sat in the dark for 15 minutes, her cell phone battery dead, her baby wrapped in a blanket and placed on her lap.
He looked closely at the boy, trying to impress his features in his memory. She then turned the car around and drove away.
Michelle was too afraid to tell anyone about her pregnancy. The father of her other child was moody and she was estranged from him. And her relationship with the father of her second child, whom she had just given birth to, was already severed. Michelle felt in an inevitable situation.
image copyright The Boston Globe via Getty Images
A safe haven in Boston
I went to the nearest hospital. He was aware of Arizona’s safe haven laws, which means he could give his baby away without legal action, as long as his baby was unharmed. He ran to the reception desk, holding the baby in his arms.
“I asked to speak to the maternity ward. I told them I thought giving her up was the best option for me. I wanted her to be safe, from my oldest daughter’s father.”
Michelle handed the baby over to the nurses. She knew another family would adopt her.
She didn’t stay in the hospital for more than three minutes.
What are baby boxes?
- Michelle handed her baby over to medical personnel, but mothers can also place their babies in boxes or drawers in hospitals and fire stations.
- In Europe during the Middle Ages, wooden chests were placed next to hospitals and churches for the same purpose.
- “Baby boxes” still exist in other countries, but the United States is the only country with detailed legislation on abandoned children.
- Safe harbor laws have been passed in the United States to prevent infanticide.
- Texas was the first state to pass these laws in 1999, and other US states have followed suit.
- A newborn’s risk of dying is highest the day it is born. A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States indicated that the number of babies killed on the day of their birth has decreased by about 67% since the implementation of these laws.
- But it is difficult to establish a link between the two, because there are other factors that could explain the decline.
the nurse
It was the death of an infant that led Heather Brenner to become an ardent advocate of safe havens. More than a decade ago, she was a pediatric nurse in the emergency room of a Phoenix hospital.
“A 15-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain. After examining her vital signs, she went to the bathroom. She put her baby on her own and threw it in the trash. Twenty minutes later, a woman from cleaner found the child. We tried to help him, but we couldn’t. We did.
Despite the availability of evidence that this girl is the mother, she has denied it. She suspected that she may have been the victim of a sexual assault committed by a member of her family.
“It was a shocking thing,” says Heather. Heather is currently director of the Arizona Safe Haven Program and executive director of the National Safe Havens Alliance, estimating that 4,687 children have been abandoned nationwide since 1999.
Erica Berner
There is a coalition helpline that receives between 60 and 100 calls a month. Last June, as the Supreme Court was considering overturning Roe v. Wade, there’s been a 300% increase in the number of calls your line has received. Anti-abortion groups have long argued that safe harbor laws deny the need for an abortion, an opinion expressed during hearings in the case.
For women calling the toll-free number, advice to leave the newborn in a safe haven is a last resort.
Heather says: “We ask them what will stop them from keeping and raising the baby. In most cases it is not the baby that is the problem but the circumstances. Is the mother homeless? Will she need someone to help with the baby” I remember even paying the electricity bill for one of the women, which made her feel like she could face whatever the future might throw at her.”
Some women who call the helpline keep their babies. Others choose to place the child with another family to adopt, and they choose that family themselves – and sometimes they meet with it. But some leave the children in a safe haven.
West of Phoenix, Arizona, Porter Olson lives with his foster family and their adoring dog. Porter is an energetic 11-year-old who loves camping, gardening and cooking.
In 2011, the adoption agency contacted the Olsons to say they had a suitable son. “I got the call and they said there was a baby we could adopt,” says Michael Olson. He immediately texted his wife with just a few words: “Best day ever.”
His wife, Nicole, was in class with her students. Nicole recalls, “I called my boss and said I wanted to ask about maternity leave. She said, ‘Are you pregnant?’ I said, ‘No, but I’m going to give birth today!'”
Porter’s mother had left him in a hospital box. In Arizona, a child is usually given up for adoption to a family the same day it is found. As was the case with the Olsen couple, those families may know nothing about their new baby.
“Best day ever,” was the text Michael sent to his wife Nicole the day they adopted Porter, now 11.
“It doesn’t matter, I always thought we could grow old together and think about it later,” says Nicole. However, the couple felt it might be useful for Porter himself to get more information about his origins.
Porter shares, “One day, my mom told me I was going to have a DNA test. The result came out and the doctor said, ‘Congratulations! You’re going to celebrate having more background.'” Native Americans, Sub-Saharan Africans and East Asians.
There is no mechanism for Porter to learn more about his parentage. This is why some activists who grew up in foster homes oppose safe haven laws. These laws have also been criticized by feminist academics for failing to address the social and economic injustices that can lead mothers to abandon their children early on.
And what if the mother reconsiders the issue of abandoning her child forever?
image copyright Other
“Some states give the mother a period during which she can try to get the baby back,” says Kate Laudenslaghel, Maricopa County deputy district attorney.
“But here in Arizona, mothers changing their minds are not an option. Abandoning a child is considered abandonment. If a man thinks he is the father of a child whose mother abandoned him, he has 30 days to notify to the Parents’ Registry and prove his paternity”.
What That did this happen to Michael?
“I couldn’t get rid of her image that never left me,” Michelle says of the baby she handed over to the nurses that winter night.
Three days after giving birth, Michelle contacted the Safe Havens Alliance. Heather Brenner agreed to champion the cause of this young woman overcome with grief and anxiety.
“Luckily for her, the adoptive family was so understanding,” says Berner. Michelle got her baby back 33 days after abandoning her.
Michelle says it was the best feeling in the world to see the baby again. The couple who took care of the baby agreed to give her back. But if they refused, Michelle would find herself forced to go to court.
Michelle agreed to talk to the BBC, possibly because her story had a happy ending. But what about the thousands of other mothers who abandoned their newborns and never saw them again?
It may be the best – or only – option available to them. We don’t know, because they rarely tell their stories.
Michelle’s real name was changed at her request
Cinematography: Tim Manzel
