« I should stop blogging over my coffee | Main | Put your money where your mouth is. »
October 24, 2008
Do Baby Drop Offs (and associated laws) help?
The number of infanticide cases has not been reduced since the 2000 introduction of the "baby hatch," where parents can safely and legally surrender their infants to state care, experts said on Thursday.
Authorities have counted the same number of baby killings - an average of 25 per year - though there was a slight increase in 2007, German Ethics Council member Ulrike Riedel said in Berlin during the organization's monthly plenary meeting.
"We can't assume that baby hatches hinder infanticide," she said.
Germany has some 80 baby hatches located at hospitals nationwide, and 130 places where mothers can give birth anonymously, the Ethics Council said. But the number of babies given up each year varies depending on the source.
The federal government reported that since 200, some 143 babies were left in baby hatches and 88 babies given up after anonymous births. But adoption expert Christine Swientek estimated that some 550 babies have been left in baby hatches and 600 left in anonymous birth clinics.
Experts at the meeting did agree that counseling for young women who are considering anonymous birth has been successful. Five of eleven mothers chose not to give up their babies after counseling sessions, Monika Klein, head of a Cologne Catholic women's social service said during the meeting.
I noticed this in the wake of the Nebraska problem with their "drop your minor child off without consequences" law. The picture of a Babyklappe is from Flickr. You really should click on this link to the story to see the stick-figure sign showing how to use such a facility. Überdepressing.*
*I do my best not to steal photographs, which is why I so seldom post things I've just lifted off the web. Think of it as modeling good behavior to my students.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at October 24, 2008 7:49 AM