Woman leaves teen at hospital under safe haven law

Woman leaves teen at hospital under safe haven law

www.journalstar.com

Lawmakers were afraid this would happen: Two older children were abandoned over the weekend under the state’s new safe haven law.

In Lincoln, a 15-year-old boy’s guardian dropped him off at BryanLGH Medical Center West Saturday evening, saying she couldn’t deal with the boy’s behavioral issues, Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said.

He and an 11-year-old boy — taken to Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha over the weekend — are the first two to be abandoned under a Nebraska safe haven law that went into effect in July.

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I just dont get this "safe haven" law. It leaves me scratching my head. Isnt there an older law on the books that has something to do with ah...Child abandonment?

Being a Father of 3 this law makes me sick to my stomach. I choose to have children and to carry on through the hard times as well as through the good times. It is not the public's tax dollar that should have to pay for a decision I made to have children. This has got to be one of the biggest "bonehead" laws added to the books in recent history. Hey, just my opinion.

What's your?

www.journalstar.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 15-9-2008 by jwstarry]

reply to post by jwstarry


after seeing what some people
do to their kids over the last few weeks on ATS News
this is a good idea.

reply to post by bodrul


i totally agree with you, if a parent neglects and/or abuses a child then they should be taken away. To take a child to the hospital and say "goodbye, I dont want you anymore". Not only is that irresponsible it also seriously damages the Kid for life.

Nothing is perfect. Laws such as this are aimed at preventing abuse and acting in the child's best interest. It will be abused just as other well-intentioned programs are abused. But we have to take the good with the bad. In this case, I believe it is worth the sacrifice of our tax dollars if we can save a baby that might have been abandoned on a stranger's doorstep in the snow or just thrown in a dumpster or drowned in an attempted flushing. I believe this law actually will save lives and not just be a waste of money.

reply to post by sc2099


good point sc2099, babies left at doorsteps is bad. Even worst is babies left in thrash cans. This article states that a 11 and a 15 year old was dropped off. you still ok with that?

reply to post by jwstarry


Of course I'm not ok with child abandonment. But I still think that this law will help more than it hurts.

The author of the law admitted that this was not the intention of the law and that he had to include children of any age in order to get it passed. I think what the mothers of these two boys have done is reprehensible and is in itself emotional abuse. But these two boys are alive and well, and will have a chance to work through these issues, while a baby left in a parking garage wouldn't even get that chance.

I don't understand the mind of someone that raises a child for 11 years and then drops him off at a hospital and says i can't deal with him anymore. No matter what problems you have you don't turn your back on your child and walk away, but that's just my opinion. I raised my sons by myself and never did the thought of abondoning them even enter my mind, no matter how hard things were.

I feel sorry for the boy, he must be going through some severe emotional pain right now. When my brother was 16 he came home from school one day and there was a note from my mother telling him that she had moved and he should come stay with me or my cousin. I know how bad he felt when she did that to him, so this boy must be feeling even worse to be left with strangers. I only hope that there is a good family willing to take him in and he isn't made to stay in a state facility.


The law is a good one when it's used for it's intended purpose, to allow mothers to give up their babies. It's sad to think that there are people out there that would do that to an older child that has already formed an attachment to their parent. It seems that this mother cared only about herself and not the emotional trauma that she would inflict on her son. What a sad world we live in.

[edit on 15/9/08 by chise61]

reply to post by sc2099


There was only one mother involved, the mother of the 11 year old boy.

The 15 year old boy was dropped off by his aunt, who became the legal guardian of the boy and his four siblings after their mother died five years ago. Not saying that she's any better than the mother of the 11 year old, just wanted to clarify that it wasn't his mother who aboned him.

How sad for those children for their mother to have died and then to go live with an aunt for five years only to have her turn them away. I can't even imagine what these children are going through, i hope they come through this alright.

Perhaps this lady was suffering from depression, or some other illness.
It is so hard for any one to admit that they are unable to cope with the pressures of their lives, especially in cases like this where children are involved.
And it is so very difficult to get any help. Society is very quick to judge and slow to empathise.

Perhaps she saw it as doing them a favour, enabling them to go to a place where they will be well fed, clothed and cared for. If she is depressed she may have been considering taking her own life and wanted to ensure that they were safe somewhere before doing so -- we just don't know.