Defining Age Limits on Safe Haven Laws

A week ago today, the Indiana mother of an 8-year-old boy drove to Nebraska, where she then proceeded to abandon her son. Why Nebraska? Because in July, Nebraska enacted a safe-haven law, protecting those who chose to abandon their children at a hospital from facing prosecution. As a result, 30 children were subsequently abandoned, including four from out of state.

What distinguished this law from similar legislation in other states was the fact that it didn't denote any age limits -- thus, a "child," by default, was defined as anyone age 17 or younger. Indiana's state haven law, by contrast, allows only infants who are less than 45 days old to be dropped off prosecution-free at places like hospitals and police and fire stations.

Nebraska lawmakers convened Friday to revise their law, limiting the safe haven drop-off age limit to 3 months, and the Hoosier boy has been returned to his home state, where he is now in the custody of Indiana's Department of Child Services.

That a child may be cast off without consequences is sad, to be sure, though most feel that under some circumstances, it's in the best interests of the unwanted child. The underlying issue is this: Up to what age should parents be allowed to drop their children off without fear of facing charges?