Newborn 'Safe Haven' Laws Questioned

NPR | By Madeleine Brand

Published July 14, 2003 at 12:00 AM EDT

After a spate of high profile baby-abandonment cases in the late 1990s, many states enacted laws designed to protect abandoned infants. The "safe haven" laws allow women to leave their newborns at designated safe places, such as hospitals or firehouses, without the threat of prosecution. But some adoption advocates say the laws are creating problems. Hear NPR's Madeleine Brand.

Madeleine Brand

Madeleine Brand is the host of NPRs newest and fastest-growing daily show, Day to Day. She conducts interviews with newsmakers (Iraqi politicians, US senators), entertainment figures (Bernardo Bertolluci, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Gervais), and the everyday people affected by the news (an autoworker laid off at GM, a mother whose son was killed in Iraq).

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