13-03-2025
New Mexico lawmakers push for anonymity in Safe Haven Baby Box cases
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Safe haven boxes give parents who can't care for their newborns a place to surrender them and now lawmakers are hoping to pass legislation to clarify procedures and protect the parent's anonymity.
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There are at least seven Safe Haven Baby Boxes in New Mexico and more are in the works. Two bipartisan bills want to create clearer guidelines on what information is collected when a baby is surrendered.
'It's all about safety, it's all about making sure that we know exactly what's going on and to make sure that child is protected from the moment they're dropped off,' said Sen. Michael Padilla, (D-Albuquerque) Majority Whip.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are an option for parents of newborns who are unable to care for the child, while also promising confidentiality, but confusion surfaced over the years after the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department said they're required to investigate these cases and get information on the parents. Now, lawmakers are proposing bipartisan legislation to clarify these procedures.
Sen. Padilla is the lead sponsor for a SB 360 aimed at making changes to the Safe Haven for Infants Act. It sets guidelines for CYFD to protect parent confidentiality while also gathering the necessary infant medical history.
'We need to know whatever information we can find out about the child because they may be in need of some serious healthcare and we just don't know that unless we can interact with that individual, if that's even possible,' said Sen. Padilla.
It also includes rules for determining if a child belongs to an Indian tribe. Meanwhile, Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice) has his own bipartisan bill, SB 499, which includes similar language but says it provides more protections for the parent.
'What we want to do is change the statute to give CYFD the indicator that they don't have to search and find the mother. Right now, the way they read the statute, they're obligated. we don't want that,' said Sen. Gallegos.
Both lawmakers and CYFD are collaborating to get these bills passed, calling it urgent.
'We've always worked across the aisle trying to get this done, we have not succeeded. And this needs to be fast-tracked, we're running out of time and the mothers in New Mexico, they're having to make decisions, deserve the very best from this state,' said Senator Gallegos.
Both bipartisan bills were considered in their first committee hearing on Wednesday. SB 360 was withdrawn by Senator Padilla after debate, saying he would work on it and bring it back next year. Meanwhile SB 499 was tabled 6-4.
On Monday, the City of Belen had its own success story after an infant surrendered to its Safe Haven Baby Box became the first to be adopted through the program in the state's history.
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