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I worry what becomes of a woman as she disappears into the night after dropping her baby off at a safe haven. Does she not matter? Is she some despicable creature worthy of no concern? On the other hand, is she mentally ill and in critical need of some support? Can she walk away from her child like that and be okay with her decision in years to come?
Will she be tormented by what she has done? No one can help her if no one knows, right? If she must relinquish in secrecy, will she ever tell anyone and get the help that she needs? If birth mothers suffer years of agony after placing a child for adoption in a considered, careful and deliberate manner, how must a woman who decides to drop off her baby and walk away anonymously feel? Can she possibly commit such an act without grave harm to her soul? Do we even care, or is only her baby deserving of our concerns?
Women desperate enough to want to leave a baby in harm’s way are unlikely to be informed enough to even know about “safe havens”. I recall a case not too long ago in which a woman who had been a newspaper reporter and had written about safe havens still left her newborn in a public place. This woman lived in an upscale, wealthy neighborhood, and knew about safe havens, yet, she still left her baby somewhere unsafe. Her child did not survive.
Instead of continuing to spend vast amounts of money advertising safe havens, I wish that we would use that money to find better ways to help women in crisis pregnancies. I wish that we could support women and their babies so that few women would feel desperate enough to consider either adoption or anonymous abandonment. Unfortunately, I question whether it is possible to save all babies and/or their mothers in crisis pregnancies. However, I wish that we could do better than we do now. “Safe havens” do not appear a reasonable or effective solution to me.
Here are more opinions on the subject.here and this article where the debate hits the fan.
To Be Continued…………………………………
