Why some people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce - Part 4?

[TitsMcGee]

11 kids, including family of 9, abandoned

By TIMBERLY ROSS, Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. - Eleven children ranging in age from 1 to 17 were left at hospitals Wednesday under Nebraska's unique safe haven law, which allows caregivers to abandon youngsters as old as 19 without fear of prosecution.

Nine of the children came from one family. The six boys and three girls were left by their father, who was not identified, at Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room. Unrelated boys ages 11 and 15 also were surrendered Wednesday at Immanuel Medical Center.

The law, which went into effect in July, initially was intended to protect infants. In a compromise with senators worried about arbitrary age limits, the measure was expanded to include the word "child," which wasn't defined. Some have interpreted this to mean anyone under the age of 19.

At least 14 children have been abandoned under the state's safe haven law since it took effect.

Todd Landry, director of Health and Human Services' division of Children and Family Services, said that in nearly every case, the parents who left their children felt overwhelmed and had decided they didn't want to be parents anymore. None of the kids dropped off so far has been in danger, Landry said.

The children surrendered Wednesday are OK, said Kathie Osterman, spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. She didn't know why they had been abandoned. Further details weren't immediately available.

Nebraska was the last state in the nation to adopt a safe-haven law. Under previous law, a parent who abandoned a baby could have been charged with child neglect or abandonment, both misdemeanors, or child abuse, a felony.

State Sen. Arnie Stuthman said he introduced the bill intending to protect infants. In a compromise with senators worried about arbitrary age limits, the measure was expanded.

Abandoning teenagers was not the original intent of the law, Stuthman said Thursday.

"People are leaving them off just because they can't control them," he said. "They're probably in no real danger, so it's an easy way out for the caretaker."

I agree with the safe haven law for babies, but to just leave the teenager you've raised at a hospital because you just can't deal anymore is horrible.

[Homicidalheathen]

i bet if all states adopted this type of law there would be so many abandonded kids that child slave labor would rear its ugly head again in this country

[jynxxxedangel]

i bet if all states adopted this type of law there would be so many abandonded kids that child slave labor would rear its ugly head again in this country

Heh, the Government itself would probably put all the abandoned children in state-run workhouses, which would be disguised as some social service institution (read "slave labor conditioning camps--be brainwashed to serve the Colony"), as soon as they were old enough to have developed their fine cognitive and motor skills.

[Rev.Reverence]

fuck & shit....

*hangs head*

...19?

[StormKnight (1)]

Heh, the Government itself would probably put all the abandoned children in state-run workhouses, which would be disguised as some social service institution (read "slave labor conditioning camps--be brainwashed to serve the Colony"), as soon as they were old enough to have developed their fine cognitive and motor skills.

Just strikes me of what State orphanges are run for in the book "Battle Royale," which I just finished this week. State orphanges are used to "recruit" cannon fodder for the miltary of the State.

But what is worse, abandonment to the state or remain in abusive "homes?"

[Msterbeau]

All because they wouldn't set a firm cut off. If it's for infants, it should be no more then a year old. Period.

[TitsMcGee]

Just strikes me of what State orphanges are run for in the book "Battle Royale," which I just finished this week. State orphanges are used to "recruit" cannon fodder for the miltary of the State.

But what is worse, abandonment to the state or remain in abusive "homes?"

But from what the article said, the kids abandoned were fine.

[Simon Bar Sinister]

do you get the deposit back?

[pomba gira]

But from what the article said, the kids abandoned were fine.

They were fine... but maybe they wouldn't have been if the "parents" had reached that certain point of frustration. The Safe Haven laws are intended to PREVENT abuse and neglect by letting parents bail before they're totally overwhelmed. Seriously, if some of my students' parents had abandoned them in infancy, they would probably be a damn sight better off emotionally.

It is in fact possible to voluntarily terminate parental custody at any time, for any or no reason... Safe Haven laws just let parents avoid the whole legal process.

We have this idea that it's unthinkable to voluntarily give up a child once we've chosen to bear and raise it. But actually this attitude has only become ingrained in our society since the introduction of welfare. Back in the day it was quite common to drop the kids off at the local orphanage if you couldn't afford to feed & clothe them. And it's still common for children to be abandoned in countries where the state isn't going to help pay to raise them (huge problem in several African countries right now).

I'm not by any means saying this is desirable or right or anything else... just pointing out that things we consider "unthinkable" have actually been the norm for much of human history... and still are in some places.