Imagine being a mother (or father) who just had a child.  They choose life.  Or maybe they tried to convince themselves they weren’t pregnant.  That it wasn’t happening.  Maybe they thought their situation would get better. But now they realize they can not take care of that child or worse, their situation grows dire. They are panicked.  They grow desperate. They don’t know what to do...

We are going to be blunt here...

Florida leads in infant deaths.   

We lead the country in abandoned infants. 

How can this be? What is the change that is needed?  What are we missing that makes these mothers and fathers so desperate that they act in sheer panic, outside of themselves and outside of rational behavior?  What forces them to unsafely abandon their infants? How can we fix this?   How can we help them?

Two words.  Baby Boxes. 

Baby Boxes are temperature controlled, safe, clean and monitored, secure boxes, usually attached to fire stations, police departments, or hospitals, where parents can hand over their babies anonymously.  Remember that word: anonymously.

But wait, aren’t there Safe Haven laws already in place to avoid this? As it stands, yes.  It IS legal in Florida to surrender a baby to a fire station without being questioned or being arrested (provided no abuse has taken place) within the first seven days of the baby’s life.  BUT - let’s think about human nature, let’s think about the face-to-face interaction we are forcing on these parents.  Can you NOT see how a potentially desperate person would want to avoid the shame and judgement that could come from just looking into someone else’s eyes knowing that they know that you are giving up your child?  Can you imagine the shame felt?  Can you imagine the suffocating need to NOT BE KNOWN.  Such an interaction obviously discourages mothers and fathers from leaving their newborns, causing them to abandon these precious children in unsafe places.  The statistics tell us this.  Human nature tells us this.

We need a change, Florida.  And it is simple.  It requires no money from your part - not as a citizen on a personal level or on a statewide level from the government’s budget.  This change is JUST a LANGUAGE change to the law.  It would allow hospitals, police stations, and fire stations to install these newborn safety devices (i.e Safe Haven baby boxes) so they could accept these newborn infants in complete anonymity. The boxes, which will be privately funded and installed are similar to a bank box or a safety deposit box - but for babies! These are needed.

They say be the change. 

Well, we are trying.  But a few people, the ones who are in charge of making the simple wording change to the law, do not think it is necessary to bring these life-saving boxes to our town.  To our families.  To save lives. 

The states that have Safe Haven boxes already installed include the states of Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Arizona, and just recently (and VERY boldly) Ocala, Florida.   The city of Ocala went ahead and decided that this was THAT IMPORTANT that they could not want for the state to catch up.  

So hear our plea, sign this petition to bring about the change that would allow a company, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, (one who is willing to do their own fundraising, install their own boxes, pay for their own billboards and awareness campaigns) to come to Florida with the support of the representatives, we put in place, to make calls such as this.  

Help us change the law.  Help us save lives.  Help us be the change.  You are needed.  NOW is the time.