Protecting Babies & Mothers
Arizona’s Safe Haven Law states that a person will not face criminal charges for leaving an unharmed newborn baby with a Safe Haven provider, including hospitals, fire stations, on-duty firefighters or emergency medical technicians, and designated private welfare agencies, adoption agencies and churches.
Statistics
According to the Maricopa Medical Examiner, during 2000-2006, the morgue received 767 deceased babies, under 9 months old. Of these babies, at least 23 were known to have been born alive and abandoned.
While the statistics of the numbers of babies abandoned and left to die by new mothers are not complete, newborn abandonment has been a continuing problem in our society. The Safe Haven Law was adopted to give new mothers an option that can save their baby’s life and give them a solid future. For more information, contact the Arizona Safe Baby Haven Foundation by visiting their
website, an Arizona non-profit corporation.