Texas was the first state to pass a safe haven law in 1999. During that year, there were three cases of abandoned infants dying in Texas. The state anticipated that passing the safe haven law would give distressed parents a safe place to surrender their unharmed babies instead of harming or abandoning them.

Texas named their safe haven law the “Baby Moses Law” after the story in the Bible of Moses being surrendered to float down the river in a basket. He was granted a safe life and upbringing after he was found in the river by Pharaoh’s daughter. Texas hoped their safe haven law would give children of distressed parents a hopeful future.

Many countries have implemented something similar to the safe haven laws in the U.S., Canada is one exception though. In Canada, leaving a child in a safe place, such as a hospital or firehouse at any point in time is illegal.

California allows parents to surrender their child up to 72 hours after birth. There are other states that also only allow 72 hours to surrender a child, such as Hawaii and Michigan. (Colorado recently changed their surrender window from 72 hours to 30 days). The state that allows the longest amount of time to surrender a baby is North Dakota- where the child has to be under one year of age.

According to Charlotte Lozier Institute, 5,068 babies have been surrendered to a safe haven since 1999, and 1,700 babies have been abandoned illegally (not involving a safe haven). Though the number of abandoned babies is discouraging, it seems to show that safe haven laws have helped babies who otherwise could have ended up in a similar dangerous situation.

Formal childcare is defined as a paid for professional, structured service, legally licensed and outside of the child’s home. According to a survey conducted in 2022, one out of every three children (33%) are not able to access formal childcare.