Nebraska has its first catch of the season!
Last Wednesday a perfectly safe, healthy, and possibly identified newborn was saved from the jaws of the trash compactor when she was dumped off “anonymously” at the Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. According to news reports, two women (KNEB says they were “a young girl and an older woman’) dropped off the infant at the ER counter. The women according to reports, spoke briefly to the admissions clerk “but gave little information.” But maybe enough:
[Police Capt. Kevin] Spencer said police were checking on the welfare of the mother, who was believed not to have received medical care after giving birth. Criminal charges were not being considered against the woman, who probably gave birth at home.
KNEB (Scottsbluff) filed a slightly different report:
Helser says the mother and father of the child, and the baby’s exact birth date, is unknown. Scottsbluff Police, worried about the welfare of the mother, have encouraged the public to provide information to help locate her. Police don’t believe she received any medical care while delivering the child.
Over on Nebraska Television, Beth Baxter, from the Orwellian-sounding Region 3 Behavioral Health Services, sort of tsks tsks Nebraska’s “safe haven” law (but not enough to offend her corporate state superiors), saying that legalized anonymous dumping is “usually never the families (sic) first choice.” even if the state advertises it as the “loving option” for parents frothing with murderous intent. Then, she skips to pimping Nebraska’s new Boystown-operated Family Help Line “manned by professionals who can listen to the stories of the family and then refer them at the local level, so they can get the types of services and support they need.”
You know. The same kind of “professionals” who advised parents and guardians to “legally abandon” their Big Kids during 2008’s Nebraska Fiasco. In fact, for all we know, one of these “professionals” told mom and grandma, in appropriately and bureaucratically soothing tones, to drop off their ‘lil dumpling at Regional West. It’s our little state secret
All news reports mention Nebraska’s “first” (and only) catch last year under NuSaveHaven (SafeHaven .2), but fail to include that Baby Boy Ana’s family retrieved him almost immediately from the no-shame-no-blame-no name-fast-track-anonymous-and-secret adoption spammer. We hope Baby Girl Regional West’s mom does the same. But please, leave identity-erasing, irresponsible grandma back on the corn farm when you do it.
In the past, Nebraska DHHS has sent out press releases on “safe havenings,” but there’s none on this one yet.
Go to Children of the Corn for a complete set of Nebraska Fiasco blogs by Baby Love Child and me with resources. I need to rework the stats, but everything else should be OK.
BONUS: NTV included this fabulous quote from Nebraska Fiasco promoter Senator Mike Gloor taking pride in the now defunct Big Kid Dump law (SafeHaven.1)
I think that speaks very well about Nebraskans and the attitude the rest of the country has about Nebraskans. I think it’s lost in this dialogue. I also think it speaks to our Midwest values. We have a focus on children and finds ways to provide those services to children.
Gloor has a great future as Laura Silsby’s speechwriter.
Right! What a great source of ‘clean slate’ babies for adoption, are these the ‘domestic infants’ I’ve been reding about on the Bethany site?
Not necessarily they are clean slate babies. SH is one of my areas of real expertise I’ve been researching them for 10 years and have thousands of news article, studies, etc. I’ve delivered several papers on them and am working on a scholarly piece right now (or was before Haiti happened).
SH were developed in the wake of adoptee rights successes in Oregon and Alabama–a backdoor way to keep records sealed. That is, if there is no information on the records, you’ve got the next best thing to sealed records. They were also created to fight the growing birthfathers rights movement and the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives tribes under certain circumstances authority over placement.
The movement took on a life of its own. Though it has always had bi-partisan support (the ACLU loves it), but it’s really been picked up by the anti-aborts who like to claim that secret adoption will decrease abortions, when there is no link at all. And the movement is full of— shall we say-crackpots–some of whom try to post here and have been banned. I’ve written extensively on SH here so if you’re really deranged you can check it out.
To get back to Bethany, a couple states authorize adoption agencies to be drop-off spots. In other states, such as FL, the babies go to private agencies, not the public system where at least you can get some oversight. Incredible! I don’t think adoption agencies are used very often, but it seems that Bethany grabbed up one kid in one of the Dakotas.