In May of 2001, a maintenance worker atop an apartment complex trash bin in Las Vegas found a 7 pound 14 ounce full term baby girl abandoned but alive - making her one of the lucky abandoned babies in Nevada. Other newborns abandoned in our state have not been so blessed. In 1996, an 18-year-old honor student in Winnemucca confessed to killing his infant child by running over his head twice with his 4-wheel drive. In 2000 at Nellis Air Force Base, a newborn was found tied in a plastic bag in the home of its parents; an autopsy confirmed the baby was born alive and died from suffocation. In Henderson, a 15 year old gave birth to a full term baby boy in a toilet causing him to drown.

SAFE HAVEN LAW

The Safe Haven Bill, Senate Bill #191, was signed into law by Governor Kenny Guinn in 2001. The law relates to the protection of children, legalizing infant abandonment, in hopes of reducing the number of infant deaths attributed to harmful abandonment and homicide. A parent will not be criminally prosecuted if they surrender an infant, who is 30 days old or younger and has not been abused or neglected, at a designated Safe Haven (i.e.: providers of emergency services, hospitals, and urgent care facilities). The Junior League of Reno and the Junior League of Las Vegas were main sponsors of the Safe Haven Bill.

Unfortunately no budget was attached to SB191; donated funds will support statewide distribution of education materials promoting the Safe Haven Act, volunteers answering crisis phone calls and emails from parents requesting information on safe havens in Nevada and training for law enforcement, fire fighters, child protective services, ambulance personnel and health professionals.