The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43163

Mary Zoller, MPA, Division of Women's and Infants' Health, Virginia Department of Health, 1500 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 804-371-2622, mzoller@vdh.state.va.us and Adam Pertman, Educator, nominated for Pulitzer Prize for series he wrote about adoption for Boston Globe. Author of Adoption Nation., 56 Hartford Street, Newton, MA 02461.

The National Conference on State Legislators reports that 36 states have rushed to pass laws to create ?safe havens? for women in crisis to abandon their babies in the last three years. Legislation often includes public health departments as infant receiving facilities who must accept these babies, who may be sick or abused. Laws may also require regulations be developed for caring for these infants and coordinating with other state and local agencies. Finally, the laws may require safe havens be promoted as part of a public education campaign, at considerable expense. What do case studies and research tell us about the young women who discard their infants? Could social marketing be used to identify women at high risk of abandoning their infant? What is the nature and scope of the problem? Will promoting safe havens conflict with other public health programs, such as those aimed at encouraging early prenatal care, preventing teen pregnancy, encouraging active father or parent involvement, and screening pregnant women for depression? What has been the experience of states enacting these laws? What is the impact of laws not only on public health, but the legal and child welfare system? Finally, how will these laws affect the birth parents whose rights have been terminated, the infants placed for adoption and their adoptive parents? Virginia is the only state to have studied these issues prior to enacting these laws. Come find out what was recommended to the Virginia General Assembly and about the politics of this legislation.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the current research and data on women who unsafely abandon their infants and the experience of states who have enacted these laws.
• Identify the legal and policy concerns and considerations in new legislation and laws to create safe havens for abandoned infants for women in crisis.
• Articulate the implications of these laws for the infants relinquished, the birth parents whose parental rights are terminated, the adoptive parents, and the courts, public health and child welfare agencies responsible for implementing them.

Keywords: Adoption, Women's Health

Related Web page: www.adoptionnation.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: National Conference of State Legislators, American Adoption Congress
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.