Nebraska Lawmakers Vote To Limit Safe Haven Law To Infants

November 19, 2008 10:29 p.m. EST

Lincoln, NE (AHN) - Majority of Nebraska's state legislators voted Wednesday to limit the coverage of the controversial Safe Haven law to infants 30 days old after local hospitals continue to receive abandoned teenagers.

A final vote on Friday after the 41-6 vote on Wednesday's emergency session will make the limit official and the revised law will be forwarded to Gov. Dave Heineman for signing.

The governor has called for the emergency session to revise the law originally intended to prevent infants from being abandoned in unsafe places by their mothers and make such action legal. The existing law has no age limits for children allowed to be dropped off in hospitals resulting in a rash of abandonment of teenagers since it took effect in July.

As of Wednesday, 35 children have so far been abandoned under the said law.