Illinois Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act
(Safe Haven Law)
How it Works: The Illinois Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act (Public Act 92-408) offers a desperate parent a safe and legal option to unsafe infant abandonment. An unharmed newborn up to 7 days old may safely and legally be relinquished to personnel at any designated Safe Haven with no questions asked and no fear of prosecution. Illinois Safe Havens include all hospitals, police stations, fire stations, and emergency medical care facilities.
For Relinquishing Parents: A packet of information is offered to the relinquishing parent that includes information on the Illinois Adoption Registry, a voluntary medical history form that can be completed or mailed in anonymously, parental rights termination information and a listing of area counselors. The parent is not required to accept the packet.
For the Infant: The infant receives medical care, DCFS is notified, and the National Crime Registry for missing children as well as the Putative Fathers Registry is checked. The newborn is placed with a pre-approved adoption agency. The infant does not enter the foster care system.
Statistics: Enacted in August of 2001, and through March 11 2008, there have been 41 safe and legal relinquishments. During this same time frame, there have been another 49 unsafe abandonments with 24 of these babies found dead. As of February 2008, 50 states have some sort of Safe Haven law. The District of Columbia does not.
SB335 was signed by the governor on August 17, 2007. This law now mandates all Safe Havens to display a uniform sign that indicates the facility as a designated Safe Haven.
Statistical Data on Abandoned Infants in Illinois since August 17, 2001
Compiled by the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation
Place where newborn was taken:
- Hospital: 32
- Fire Station: 7
- Police Station:2
- TOTAL number of newborns brought in under the law: 41
Parent(s) decision once identified or at a Safe Haven location*:
- Relinquished under the law: 36
- Decided to keep baby: 3
- Decided to use adoption: 2
Known age of mothers*:
- Age 14-18: 21.28%
- Age 19-24: 31.91%
- Age 25-30: 29.79%
- Age 31-41: 17.02%
Known place of birth of newborn*:
- Home / bathroom: 12
- Public bathroom: 3
- Abandoned building: 1
- Hotel room: 1
- Hospital: 5
Known race of newborn*:
- African/Black: 33.82%
- Caucasian/White: 41.18%
- Latino/Hispanic: 17.65%
- Mixed Race: 7.35%
Number of newborns illegally abandoned who survived: 25
Number of newborns illegally abandoned who died: 24
TOTAL number of newborns illegally abandoned: 49
Total number of abandoned or legally relinquished newborns in Illinois since 8/17/01: 90
* Data is provided where verified information is known. Unknown or non-verified information is not reported. This data has been compiled since the enactment of the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act on August 17, 2001.
Updated 3/11/08
THE NEWS: Hospitals, emergency medical facilities, and fire and police stations are installing uniform signs that identify them as Safe Havens for newborn babies in Illinois. An amendment to the Abandonment Newborn Infant Protection Act requires Safe Havens to post the signage in a prominent place on the exterior of the building.
OUR SAFE HAVEN LAW: Says that a parent of an unharmed newborn baby (up to seven days old) can hand the baby to a staff member at a Safe Haven and walk away with no questions asked. The law enables first responders to literally rescue a newborn infant from a parent’s arms before any harm comes to the baby. It gives a parent in crisis a safe option within those first critical days of life when babies are most at risk of being killed or abandoned illegally.
There are 89 documented cases since Illinois enacted the law in 2001: 41 babies relinquished at a Safe Haven, and 49 babies illegally abandoned with 25 of those babies surviving and 24 who died. That’s a 51% survival rate for babies who were not taken to a Safe Haven.
Illinois has good law that’s been used as a model in other states (all 50 of which now have some kind of Safe Haven law). It provides a process that can be executed quickly, and it’s thorough:
- Medical exam for baby.
- Information packet for the relinquishing parent (information on termination of parental rights, a medical history form that can be mailed back anonymously, a list of counseling services).
- Police check for a kidnapped or missing baby.
- Check of Father’s Punitive Registry to protect fathers’ rights.
- Unharmed babies are placed with a pre-approved adoption agency, not in foster care.
- When taught in public schools, health curriculum must include the Safe Haven law.
- And now, uniform signage is required on the exterior of Safe Havens across the State.
It costs so little and saves so much in terms of emergency medical care and/or death-related services for the babies, the cost of pursuing, prosecuting and incarcerating parents who abandon illegally, the cost of foster care, and, with the survival rate of illegally abandoned babies at 51%, it is clearly saving lives.
ABOUT THE PARENTS: This happens with all kinds of people in all kinds of communities. The one thing these cases appear to have in common is that the pregnancies are usually hidden.
CALL TO ACTION: When you see a sign at a Safe Haven, point it out to your family and friends. Talk about the law. If you know someone you think might be hiding a pregnancy, make sure they know this option exists. You just might save a life.
RESOURCES: Text of the law available at www.ilga.gov; see 325ILCS under “Compiled Statutes;” Section 22 addresses the signage. Full information available at the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation web site, a 501C3 all-volunteer organization dedicated to Safe Haven awareness in Illinois: www.SaveAbandonedBabies.org.
proclamation081.pdf