Frank Sonnek alerted me to another heart-breaking phenomenon, as if we needed any more. A number of states have passed “safe haven” laws designed to allow young mothers to leave their newborn infants at a hospital or other facility with no fear of prosecution, an easy way to give up a baby for adoption. The intention was to prevent the horrible phenomenon of “dumpster” babies. This was a humane, pro-life measure, designed to halt infanticide. But increasingly, parents are leaving teenagers at hospitals. They are typically out of control adolescents that the parents do not know what to do with. Sometimes, though, parents are abandoning their children en masse because they no longer feel they can take care of them.
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