Baby Box bill
HB1437, died when the Missouri Legislature closed up shop on May 15. The bill would have amended the state’s Safe Haven Law to allow parents to drop off infants up to 45 days old in a hole-in-the-wall Safe Haven Baby Box. Read that again. 45 days old.
The bill passed the House Children and Families Committee and the Rules Oversight Committee but didn’t get further due to the Covid-19 shutdown. Unfortunately, it will return next year.
Funny thing is, there’s been reportedly been zilch known newborn abandonments for several years in Missouri. But never fear. Baby Boxes are just another “choice” for women. At least for “pro-life” sponsor Rep. Jim Murphy, quoted in Call Newspapers
It’s another option for a mother who’s going through a tough time.
IOW: a permanent solution for a temporary problem.
National Safe Haven Alliance (NSHA) opposes Baby Box legislation as does Bastard Nation, though we didn’t get any press about it. NSHA got a quote though, as did Safe Haven outlier and my personal bete noir Mad Mike Morrisey who said that Baby Boxes are “converted pig feeder troughs.” Dropping off the fringe as usual, he added that Murphy “is not a Republican if he’s pushing this thing forward.”
I dropped a line tonight to the reporter to let her know that Baby Boxes are inimical to adoptee rights) and that Bastard Nation has been in the forefront of opposition to Safe Havens and Baby Boxes.
For more information about Bastard Nation opposition to Baby Boxes go to Bastard Nation Policy Paper on Legalized Abandonment: Baby Drop Boxes Also my personal project on Facebook, Stop Safe Haven Baby Drop Boxes Baby Boxers find the page highly offensive, and a couple of them demanded that it be removed as a “hate page.” I was also accused of being in violation of a court order barring Mike Morrisey from harassing Safe Haven Baby Box founder, Monica Kelsey. One well-known evangelical “sex educator” and baby box leader called me a pedophile!