Tuesday April 8th, 2008 was designated an awareness day for Abandoned babies in the State of Illinois.
The Governor, Rod Blagojevich, would like distressed parents to know that the fire station, police station or hospital are legal places a parent can hand over a newborn that is up to seven days old.
The baby must be given to a staff person on duty.
Pekin Fire Chief Chuck Lauss said, “They bring that baby in and relinquish custody of that baby. No questions asked. Completely anonymously. They have 72 hours to come back to that facility and find out where that baby has gone to.”
The Mayor of Pekin, David Tebben, said, “We’re looking to reach out and say we understand there’s sometimes some difficulty in life. We’re here to help. Come to us, we’re here to help.”
As of 2007, the signs were mandated under the amendment to Illinois’ safe haven law. It was important to do this because since 2001, 49 babies have been illegally abandoned… and half of those babies have died.
It would be nice if they took their campaign to the high schools. Too many teenage moms are hiding their pregnancies and then harming their babies after delivery. If these moms knew that they could give the baby up- no questions asked – maybe they wouldn’t make such irrational decisions post partum.
