Spread of ‘baby boxes’ in Europe alarms United Nations

article from The Raw Story
By Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian
Sunday, June 10, 2012

Spread of ‘baby boxes’ in Europe alarms United Nations
Well it looks like Europe has a problem.

Apparently, "baby boxes" are making a comeback.
Hundreds have been "installed" in the last decade or so, many near hospitals.

Unwanted newborn babies can be deposited and that will trigger an alarm and summon a caretaker.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child is concerned.

The United Nations is increasingly concerned at the spread in Europe of “baby boxes” where infants can be secretly abandoned by parents, warning that the practice “contravenes the right of the child to be known and cared for by his or her parents”, the Guardian has learned.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reports on how well governments respect and protect children’s human rights, is alarmed at the prevalence of the hatches – usually outside a hospital – which allow unwanted newborns to be left in boxes with an alarm or bell to summon a carer.

The committee, a group of 18 international human rights experts based in Geneva, says that while “foundling wheels” and baby hatches had disappeared from Europe in the last century, almost 200 have been installed across the continent in the past decade in nations as diverse as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Latvia. Since 2000, more than 400 children have been abandoned in the hatches, with faith groups and right-wing politicians spearheading the revival in the controversial practice....

There is evidence that the baby box idea is popular. A Swiss poll in 2011 found 87% saying baby boxes were “very useful or useful” and more than a quarter of respondents thought every hospital should have one.

The U.S. has them too ?

She likened the pro-baby box movements in Europe to the religious right in the US. “Very similar to the United States where we have the spread of the Safe Haven programme with baby boxes in 50 states since 1999. Now we have MEPs arguing for baby boxes and they just reject the convention.”

In the U.S.

Safe-haven laws (also known in some states as "Baby Moses laws") are statutes in the United States that decriminalize the leaving of unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that the child becomes a ward of the state. "Safe-haven" laws typically let parents remain nameless to the court, often using a numbered bracelet system as the only means of linking the baby to the mother. Some states treat safe-haven surrenders as child dependency or abandonment, with a complaint being filed for such in juvenile court. The parent either defaults or answers the complaint. Others treat safe-haven surrenders as adoption surrenders, hence a waiver of parental rights (see parental responsibility). Police stations, hospitals, rescue squads, and fire houses are all typical locations to which the safe-haven law applies.[1]

Texas was the first state to enact a “Baby Moses Law” in 1999.

Safe-haven law

but not just "babies"

Controversy has arisen out the safe-haven law enacted in Nebraska in July 2008. The Nebraska law has been interpreted to define a child as anyone under 18, and has resulted in the desertion of teenage children. Under this law, at least 35 non-infant children were dropped off in Nebraska hospitals in a four month span. The law was changed in November 2008, allowing only infants up to 30 days old to be abandoned.

There have been questions of Constitutionality

Despicable. Give some globalists in Geneva your baby so they can send it to a SRA dungeon.

Didn't know what "baby boxes" were until this post. and honestly.. makes me kinda sick!

As a new father, I couldn't imagine discarding my child like trash. Shame on all those who use these "baby boxes".


"You do the crime, you do the time" Be a REAL hero, BE a parent!

It seems so ridiculous that it's almost funny, but actually highlights a real tragedy.

I suppose you can't really call someone who has an unwanted pregnancy and wishes to get rid of the child via dumping 'responsible', but perhaps we could ensure that when handing over a child it is actually given to someone face to face, even if anonymously.

I'm not judging people that feel ill equipped to deal with the responsibility of having a child. I certainly don't feel responsible enough to manage it. It's amazing me and my dog are fed and bathed regularly . That being said, how could you put a baby in a box? What about medical issues in the child? Do you just leave a note? What if the alarm system were to fail and the little one sits there for too long? What if the little one starts choking before someone can get to it?

Originally posted by Domo1
It seems so ridiculous that it's almost funny, but actually highlights a real tragedy.

I suppose you can't really call someone who has an unwanted pregnancy and wishes to get rid of the child via dumping 'responsible', but perhaps we could ensure that when handing over a child it is actually given to someone face to face, even if anonymously.

I'm not judging people that feel ill equipped to deal with the responsibility of having a child. I certainly don't feel responsible enough to manage it. It's amazing me and my dog are fed and bathed regularly . That being said, how could you put a baby in a box? What about medical issues in the child? Do you just leave a note? What if the alarm system were to fail and the little one sits there for too long? What if the little one starts choking before someone can get to it?

good pint..

Or what if these babies are funding a new army?? 5-10 years ago I would have said that's crazy talk.. but who knows these days!

This really comes down to society making life too complicated for people to cope with. We live in a seriously diseased civilization. A greater sense of respect and value for other people would go a very long way to helping all strata of society. Allowing people to pursue their happiness without so much bureaucracy and other complications would assist a great deal as well. We need better values, greater security, greater opportunity, and general benevolence. Presently, we're grossly lacking in all of the above and that makes people do things they really don't necessarily want to but let's face it, women with children have always been the most vulnerable segment of society. Policies haven't changed to make that better either, to the contrary in fact.

You can legislate rights all you want and call these women anything you like, but if you're marginalized by society survival becomes more difficult. How can a single working woman with low income and barely enough to subsist on herself then be available, body and mind, for her child? How will she manage? Society lays all the blame at her feet while offering her precious little, if any, assistance whatsoever. And to whose benefit? Neither mother nor child. Neither family nor community.

People who feel loved and supported manage to stay in more secure situations in their lives. People who are marginalized and otherwise cast to their fate often don't fare so well. Why would we instate policies that make that life even more unfortunate when we could, with some effort and genuine understanding, create policies and programs that offer support to those people?

We need to change our mindset. Help, not hinder.

reply to post by xuenchen


As an-abandoned, and adopted infant,Myself,,,

I salute the idea, of "baby boxes" but ,,,,,
disgust,,, at the thought of ever stomaching, the use of one..

weird Conundrum... i'm sure..

Darrman

weird how you go looking for "news" and you find something,, that makes me cry.....

reply to post by SickeningTruths

Or what if these babies are funding a new army??

I don't understand what you mean. Could you elaborate a bit? I hiked with the pup today and the mind and body are both a little tired.

This is the product of the mathematics behind population, energy and logistics, as it correlates with that of sustainability and procreation.

As we increase in over all mass, our consumption levels increase, and our population becomes dependent on resources. Considering the levels consumption by population and including the means by which we derive our sustenance, it is only implied that either our ways must change... or our population.

This is then reflected in the actions taken by the people who abandon the responsibility of raising and being economically responsible for their offspring. Many couples and individuals are quickly realizing that something needs to change, and in an escapist fashion... they hand off said responsibilities to others. This exact same behavioral pattern can be seen in the current welfare, nanystate paradigm that we have entered.

To further back up my comments I will present the next two following videos. Before you choose to respond, I highly suggest watching them.

www.youtube.com...
Geoffrey West: The surprising math of cities and corporations


^^^WATCH IT

next...

Arithmetic, Population and Energy (Lecture)
topdocumentaryfilms.com...

If people don't wake the ____ up, things like this will increase, in attempts of displacing responsibility and replacing them with desires.

"We" are more intelligent than this! Knowledge is power, and the power is with the people... so lets stop acting like some fools, and actually address our future through paradigms that are conducive to the thriving of humanity.

There's much more to the reasoning behind why the baby boxes are popular that I did not speak of, so don't fall under the assumption that the previously mentioned reasons are to reflect the whole of the situation. Although, I would suggest that much of what I said is the main contributing factor as to the current condition of humanity.
topdocumentaryfilms.com...

It's a horrible situation, but let's be real here. Would I rather have them put in a baby box that triggers somebody to come and get them, or have them found in a garbage dumpster?

Originally posted by CosmicEgg
This really comes down to society making life too complicated for people to cope with. We live in a seriously diseased civilization. A greater sense of respect and value for other people would go a very long way to helping all strata of society. Allowing people to pursue their happiness without so much bureaucracy and other complications would assist a great deal as well. We need better values, greater security, greater opportunity, and general benevolence. Presently, we're grossly lacking in all of the above and that makes people do things they really don't necessarily want to but let's face it, women with children have always been the most vulnerable segment of society. Policies haven't changed to make that better either, to the contrary in fact.

You can legislate rights all you want and call these women anything you like, but if you're marginalized by society survival becomes more difficult. How can a single working woman with low income and barely enough to subsist on herself then be available, body and mind, for her child? How will she manage? Society lays all the blame at her feet while offering her precious little, if any, assistance whatsoever. And to whose benefit? Neither mother nor child. Neither family nor community.

People who feel loved and supported manage to stay in more secure situations in their lives. People who are marginalized and otherwise cast to their fate often don't fare so well. Why would we instate policies that make that life even more unfortunate when we could, with some effort and genuine understanding, create policies and programs that offer support to those people?

We need to change our mindset. Help, not hinder.

Great post!

I don't have all that much to say, other than I agree. Much of the sentiment behind your comment is reiterated in mine as well... I wish I could have conveyed my point in a similar fashion as you did. I'm more of a numbers, efficiency, and psychology type of person.

You get one bright shining star from me!

Originally posted by Domo1
reply to post by SickeningTruths

 

Or what if these babies are funding a new army??

I don't understand what you mean. Could you elaborate a bit? I hiked with the pup today and the mind and body are both a little tired.

Not saying I believe this, just something to think about... What if these boxes with living babies were sent off to the UN for example, and raised as a kid soldier only later to be a super soldier.. I doubt that's the case.. Maybe I seen to many movies.. But as I have said before, you never know these days.

For some reason I cant help but think about the "BEKs" (Black Eyed Kids) who allegedly/supposedly came from military installations and bothered civilian home owners in the surrounding arias.

Uh, people. This is not a new concept. In previous centuries - probably all of them - when a woman or girl found herself pregnant but unable to keep the baby *for myriad reasons* (please do think really hard before you lay all the blame at her feet), there have always been ways to leave these infants. Orphanages have always existed, often run by churches - or even more nefarious organizations. Abandoned children, when found or offered, could be raised and became property, slaves.

There is so much of this in literature I find it amusing that many of you react as though it's a new phenomenon. Surely you don't think we're any different now, that we're somehow morally superior to what we've always been. We most certainly are not. But we can be if we offer real solutions that result in good for all parties involved. We need to find our hearts about this sort of thing.

reply to post by darrman


I can't imagine how hard that's weighed on you. This must be a really rough topic. I'm glad for your contribution and wish you the best. I think that sometimes the kindest thing a parent can do is accept they are not able to care for the child correctly. Even though it must really hurt sometimes, especially for the child.

It must be an awful decision for any mother to give up a child, even worse in these circumstances. At least authorities are putting in place an option that will keep the baby alive.

“The baby box has two doors – the outer ones are for mothers, or fathers, who want to give up their child, the inside ones are for doctors or in this case, town hall employees. The box is permanently heated and air-conditioned and there is a stable temperature of around 30 degrees Celsius. If a child is put in a baby box and the doors are shut, the alarm instantly alerts someone, who calls an ambulance, or if it is in a hospital, a pediatrician.”

link

reply to post by ArrythmianDreams

It's a horrible situation, but let's be real here. Would I rather have them put in a baby box that triggers somebody to come and get them, or have them found in a garbage dumpster?

I agree with that, but would it really be so hard to anonymously relinquish a child to an actual person? Seems like that's the best option. Babies are fragile. Electronics fail.

I think the baby boxes are a good idea, do we really want babies ending up in garbage bins?

The babies have a chance this way and there are plenty of people who want to adopt.

Originally posted by lifecitizen
I think the baby boxes are a good idea, do we really want babies ending up in garbage bins?

The babies have a chance this way and there are plenty of people who want to adopt.

For those reasons, and those reasons alone, are the ONLY reasons I support this..

reply to post by xuenchen


A problem? Baby boxes are a great thing to have and yes every hospital should have them. Whether you like it or not there are going to be people who want to abandon their baby for any numerous reasons from a young girl raped to the parents realizing they are unfit to raise a baby and that it would be better for it to be in a loving environment then with them. I would rather have them leave their babies at hospitals then throw them in the dumpster.

A young Mar Vista woman who attended her high school prom in May now walks into a courtroom wearing a blue L.A. County jail jumpsuit. Alejandra Gomez, facing a murder charge, is accused of secretly giving birth to a baby boy, who died after she dumped him in a trash can earlier this year. A former USC student, Linda Chu, is serving a five-year term in a San Joaquin Valley prison for strangling her newborn daughter, then dumping her into a trash chute that serviced her dormitory. A state law that takes effect on Jan. 1 aims to save such babies. The law, part of a national trend to address the issue of so-called "dumpster babies," will allow mothers to leave unwanted newborns anonymously at hospital emergency rooms within 72 hours of birth without the threat of prosecution. Mothers will also have two weeks to change their minds. "Maybe it would have helped our situation," said the father of a Santa Ana 17-year-old who is serving a four-year term in a California Youth Authority facility for throwing her newborn son out a second-story apartment bedroom window in July 1997. "Our situation is in the past. It doesn't do us any good." (The baby survived and has been adopted.) As the new law is about to take effect, the finishing touches are also being put on a pro bono ad campaign to get the word to pregnant women in desperate straits.

article

reply to post by Domo1


Babies are not fragile unless they are quite sickly anyway.

How much joy do you suppose a mother gets from having to give away her child? I wouldn't think it would be a great deal. And if she is giving the baby away because she doesn't or can't care, do you think it matters? Isn't a controlled environment better than leaving the baby in the forest, in a dumpster, in a toilet, at a bus stop?

Please really try to think about what a person's life is really like in these situations. Imagine what her life is like if she's been that unnoticed that she could be pregnant, deliver the baby unassisted, and then "dispose" of it without anyone in the world blinking an eye. Imagine all the scenarios in her life that first caused her pregnancy, caused her to hide this. Can you imagine that far? Now think about her feelings during the pregnancy. Think about all the misery. Nearly a year of that on your mind, night and day. And then what to do next?

That box is practically a godsend.

Think with your heart.