Babies Could Be Given Up At NJ Hospitals Under Wyckoff Elected's Bill

WYCKOFF, NJ — A Wyckoff senator's proposed bill to allow parents to voluntarily surrender newborn children at New Jersey hospitals, no questions asked, is advancing.

Sen. Kristin Corrado's sponsored legislation to expand the Safe Haven Infant Protection Act (enacted in 2000) to include hospitals as "acceptable drop-off locations" was approved 8-0 last week by a Senate committee and is advancing through the legislative pipeline.

"More newborns are being safely surrendered as awareness of the state's Safe Haven law increases," Corrado said. "Although it is a difficult decision for any parent to give up their newborn, safe havens have provided an alternative for parents to drop-off infants rather than putting their child in harm’s way."

So far in 2023, four infants have been surrendered to hospital E.R.s; police or fire stations; or ambulance, first aid or rescue squads (as allowed by the Safe Haven law); this number equals the total given up in all of 2022, according to state officials.

Once surrendered, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families' child protection division "immediately take(s) the (newborn) into custody and place(s) the infant in a foster or pre-adoptive home," pursuant to the Safe Haven law, DCF said on its website.

If enacted, Corrado's amendment would give parents an additional "life-saving option" to anonymously surrender their infants after giving birth by expanding the Safe Haven law to include licensed general hospitals.

"Giving parents more options to safely surrender their newborn," Corrado said, "not only protects more infants from an otherwise dangerous or deadly situation, it prevents parents from being prosecuted as well."

To wit, the proposed amendment stipulates that it would be an affirmative defense to prosecution for abandonment of a child, if the infant is left at a hospital (such as the other aforementioned drop-off locations) up to 30 days after birth.

Corrado's legislation would also protect hospital employees who accept the surrendered babies "in good faith," as per the provisions of the Safe Haven law, the senator said.

As a state policy, the Department of Children and Families cannot comment on pending legislation. However, a spokesperson said, DCF has saved 86 infants in New Jersey.

"NJ's Safe Haven law is critically important," spokesperson Jason Butkowski said in a statement.