NAM/NAAM Day 10: Hutchinson, Kansas Gets 2 Baby Boxes--from Canada. What's Up With That?

Well, this is interesting.

The City of Hutchinson, Kansas issued a media release (and here) the other day to announce that 2 “Safe Haven Baby Boxes” will be coming to Hutchinson as soon as $50,000 can be raised. Only, they aren’t “Safe Haven Baby Boxes.” They are “Hope’s Cradles” from Gems for Gems, a Canadian non-profit that has installed a couple of their own boxes in Alberta and Manitoba and has a few more locations lined up in Ontario. (See the SSHBBN Canada, Promotors, and Targets pages for more information. See our Kansas page about the legislative campaign, news stories, and hearings and testimony.)

Whatever happened to Buy American?

Is Gems for Gems carpetbagging into the states or is his something deeper?

The new Kansas baby box law contains a little feature that other states don’t: a gag order.

That is, the box operator is prohibited by law from disclosing any information about a catch and case. No press conferences. No dog and pony shows. No fundraisers with Kansas boxed babies toddling around. I wonder how that got in the bill?

For the curious: page 15

(m) Except as otherwise provided by law, the following
individuals shall not disclose any information concerning the
relinquishment of the infant and individuals involved in the
relinquishment:
(1) Persons licensed to practice medicine and surgery, advanced
practice registered nurse or licensed physician assistant;
(2) employees of a facility described in subsection (c)(1)(A);
(3) operators of a newborn safety device; or
(4) persons employed or involved with any location where an
infant may be surrendered under this section

What fun is that?

We also wonder if Monica Kelsey, the founder and CEO of SHBB Inc might have gotten testy about the gag order during the legislative campaign and word got out that the company is not pleasant to deal with.

While we absolutely oppose any kind of baby box, we admit that the Gems for Gems folks seem a lot nicer than the Woodburn family entrepreneurs.

We’re going to dig around a little to see if we can come up with some answers. If we do, we’ll let you know.

The boxes are a joint venture of the Hutchinson Fire Department and the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. The population of Hutchinson is about 38,000. Is there really a need for two boxes?

Crossposted to Stop Safe Haven Bab Boxes Now!

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