BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1873|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1873
Author: Torrico (D), et al
Amended: 6/27/06 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-0, 6/20/06
AYES: Morrow, Harman, Kuehl
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dunn, Escutia
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-6, 5/31/06 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Child protection: safe surrender of newborns
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill (1) allows the safe surrender of a
baby up to 30 days old, rather than 72 hours, under the
Safely Surrendered Baby program, (2) permits a fire agency
to designate a safe surrender site, upon approval of the
local governing body, and (3) specifies that a safe
surrender site and its personnel have no liability for a
surrendered child prior to taking actual physical custody
of the child.
ANALYSIS : Existing law makes it a crime for a parent or
other person entrusted with a child younger than 14 years
of age to abandon the child and to fail to provide for the
child or to present the child to an orphanage or similar
CONTINUED
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institution as an orphan.
Existing law makes it a crime for a parent willfully to
fail, without lawful excuse, to provide a child with
necessary food, shelter, medical assistance, or other
remedial care.
Existing law protects from prosecution under the state's
child abandonment laws a parent or other person having
lawful custody of a child 72 hours or younger, who
voluntarily surrenders physical custody of the child to
personnel on duty at a safe surrender site.
Existing law provides a procedure for the surrender of
newborns 72 hours or younger by a parent or other
responsible person at a hospital or a site (safe surrender
site) designated by the county, without incurring criminal
liability under the state's child abandonment laws.
This bill allows the surrender of babies up to 30 days old
by a parent or another responsible person.
Existing law authorizes a county to designate a site for
the surrender of a newborn up to 72 hours old under the
Safely Surrendered Baby law.
This bill authorizes a local fire agency upon approval of
the appropriate local governing body to designate a site
for the safe surrender of a newborn under the Safely
Surrendered Baby law.
Existing law permits the safe surrender of a newborn baby
72 hours old or younger at designated sites and insulates
the person surrendering the baby from criminal prosecution
as long as the proper procedures under the Safely
Surrendered Baby law are followed. Last year, the sunset
date for this program was eliminated, making the program
permanent in the state.
Background
SB 1368 (Brulte), Chapter 824, Statutes of 2000, enacted
the Safely Surrendered Baby law, which allows the surrender
of a newborn by a parent or other responsible person to a
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safe surrender site, where the abandoned newborn may
receive medical and other care until the county takes over
custody of the newborn. That bill was introduced to
provide mothers of unwanted newborns a safe alternative to
abandonment of the child in trash bins, alleys, or other
places where the babies would be unprotected and could die.
It was spurred by a group that retrieved dead abandoned
babies from county morgues and buried them in a specially
designated cemetery.
In order to reduce the number of babies abandoned in such a
manner and give the babies a chance to survive, SB 1368
provided a safe place (such as an emergency room of a
hospital) where a person may surrender the baby and, if
there is a change of heart, may retrieve the baby within a
specified time. The bill also provided immunity from
criminal prosecution for violation of the child abandonment
laws to the person who safely surrendered the newborn. To
get the bill enacted, a sunset date of January 1, 2006, was
amended into the bill. Last year, SB 116 (Dutton), Chapter
625, Statutes of 2005, removed the sunset date on the law,
making it permanent.
SB 1368 also contained reporting provisions that required
the Department of Social Services (DSS) to report to the
Legislature biennially on various data related to the
effectiveness and continuing need for the Safely
Surrendered Baby law.
According to the latest DSS Report dated January, 2005, the
number of infants surrendered under the Safely Surrendered
Baby law total 64 (up to September 2004), of which 39
babies were several hours old, 16 were one day (24 hours)
old, six were two days (48 hours) old, and three were three
days (72 hours) old.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/7/06)
American College of Emergency Physicians, California
Chapter
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
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California Catholic Conference
California Commission on the Status of Women
California District Attorneys Association
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Hospital Association
California Medical Association
California State Firefighters Association
California State PTA
City of Ontario
City of Vista
League of California Cities
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/10/06)
California State Association of Counties
California Welfare Directors Association
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles County Sheriff
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : In January 2006, a dead infant was
found in a trash bin of a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in
Newark, California, in the author's district. Police
estimated the infant to be less than one week old, and
although it was found wrapped in a blanket and with a
pacifier, there was no evidence that the baby was alive
when it was abandoned. At the end of January, another baby
was found on the doorsteps of a church in San Jose. The
baby was reported to be two hours old.
According to the DSS Report (January 2005), between October
2002 and September 2004, there were 105 abandoned babies
statewide who were found alive, and 23 abandoned babies who
were deceased. These numbers include the 52 babies who
were safely surrendered during the same period. When added
to the 12 babies who were safely surrendered in the
previous reporting period (January 1, 2001 to October 21,
2002, cited in the January DSS 2003 report) there are a
total of 64 babies who were surrendered according to the
protocol outlined in the Safely Surrendered Baby law from
its inception to this date.
According to proponents, groups that have dealt with babies
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who were abandoned and died, one baby's life is worth all
the effort of educating the public about the safe surrender
law.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : According to the County of Los
Angeles:
"Los Angeles County has been at the forefront of
implementing the Safe Surrender Law, with over 40
babies safely surrendered since its enactment in 2002.
While the County remains committed to the safety and
well-being of newborns, it believes that the current
law regarding the 72 hour age limitation is
appropriate, and that it should not be expanded. The
concept behind this law is to protect newborns by
allowing their birth mothers to surrender the baby at a
designated, safe location rather than abandoning the
infant in an unsafe environment, which could result in
the baby's death.
"Further, research also supports the 72 hour time
frame. According to a 2004 report by the National
Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center at UC
Berkeley, women who commit neonaticide 'often
experience abnormal mental functioning during their
pregnancies.' The Emergency Pediatric Are Journal
reported in 2003 that 'newborns are at the greatest
risk of homicide during their first day of life; this
time frame constitutes 83 percent of all infants
killed.' Los Angeles County data reports that 25
infants were found dead or abandoned in the County
between 1999 and 2002, and all but one was within 72
hours of birth."
According to the California Welfare Directors Association,
a group that supported the passage of the original bill
that enacted the Safely Surrendered Baby law, 30 days is an
unnecessary expansion of current law and therefore opposes
this bill:
"The safe-surrender law is primarily targeted toward
pregnant women who are in severe crisis, placing their
newborn babies at imminent risk of harm. California
law seeks to balance the rights of both parents with
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the need to keep babies safe. Research indicates that
some women are in such denial about their pregnancy
that the newborn is at great risk of being killed or
abandoned shortly after birth. However, we know of no
research suggesting that the same risk factors continue
to exist for babies beyond the first few days of life?
"For children who are older than a few days, the
existing voluntary relinquishment process enables
parents to voluntarily free their children for
adoption. Voluntary relinquishment offers safeguards
to birth parents, the child and the adoptive parents."
The California State Association of Counties also believes
that the bill goes too far in its proposed expansion of the
SSB law: "?given the target population: women who are in a
severe and immediate crisis placing their newborn baby at
imminent risk of harm?Current law seeks to balance the
rights of both mothers and fathers with the need to keep
the babies safe. We believe that the proposed 30-day time
period may infringe on fathers' rights." Child protective
services are provided by the county, once the surrendered
newborn is transferred to the county by the safe surrender
site personnel.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Bass, Benoit, Berg,
Bermudez, Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Chan, Chavez, Chu,
Cogdill, Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre, DeVore,
Dymally, Emmerson, Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg,
Hancock, Harman, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston,
Huff, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Klehs, Koretz, La Malfa,
Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Liu, Matthews,
McCarthy, Montanez, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nation, Nava,
Negrete McLeod, Niello, Oropeza, Parra, Pavley, Plescia,
Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Saldana,
Salinas, Spitzer, Strickland, Torrico, Tran, Umberg,
Vargas, Villines, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Haynes, La Suer, Leslie, Maze, Mountjoy, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Canciamilla
RJG:mel 8/11/06 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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