Nebraska's Amended "Safe Haven" Law For Infants Takes Effect

Lincoln, NE (AHN) - Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill limiting the coverage of the Safe Haven Law to babies up to 30 days old.

The new law, which takes effect on Saturday, was passed by state legislators earlier Friday via a 45-3 vote to prevent Nebraska from becoming a dumping ground of abandoned pre-teen and teenagers.

The Safe Haven Law was originally intended to legally allow mothers to abandon newborns in hospitals instead of in unsafe places like trash bins. However, the law has no age limit for children that will be abandoned.

Parents from other states have taken advantage of the flaw in the law by leaving children as old as 17 to the care of the Nebraska government.