Hundreds have signed a petition demanding a safe “last resort” alternative for women to give up their babies in London as police search for the parents of a newborn abandoned on an east-end doorstep.
So-called Safe Haven Baby Boxes are described as temperature-controlled containers that lock and allows parents to safely leave a newborn anonymously – and this week’s abandonment case underscores the need for one here, says petition organizer Tori Rose.
“(They’re) effective and have saved lives” she said. “I think it’s crazy that we don’t have them here in London.”
According to its website, Safe Haven Baby Boxes are offered “as a last-resort option for women who want to safely surrender their child with complete anonymity.” The first one was installed in 2016 in Indiana.
It was about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday when London police say officers were called after a citizen heard the newborn crying on a porch. Bria Vanier, who lives in the Sterling Street home where the baby boy was left, said he “still had after-birth on him.”
Paramedics took the baby to hospital, where he was in good condition, police said, adding the Children’s Aid Society has been notified, but a criminal investigation “is secondary in nature” to finding the mother to ensure she has medical treatment.
FULL ARTICLE: https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/petition-urges-london-to-build-last-resort-baby-drop-off-for-moms-in-crisis
PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/install-a-safe-haven-baby-box-angel-cradle-hope-cradle-in-london-on
—
