A baby was surrendered to a Safe Haven Baby Box at a fire station in Abilene, Texas, on July 1, city officials said.
The baby was surrendered to the baby box location at Station 7 on 431 North Pioneer Drive, the City of Abilene said in a press release. The box alarm promptly sounded after the surrender, and first responders removed the child from the device and performed a health assessment before taking the baby to a nearby hospital. Officials did not release any more information about the baby or the surrender.
Baby boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals that can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Then, the outside door locks, and mothers have time to get away before an alarm goes off, alerting first responders or hospital staff inside.
READ MORE: Newborn Surrendered to North Texas Safe Haven Baby Box
Safe Haven Baby Boxes launched nine years ago in Indiana and has expanded nationwide with at least 455 locations. More than 75 newborns have been surrendered to baby boxes across the United States, according to the organization. Safe Haven Baby Boxes also says it has assisted at least 150 people with safe surrenders to other safe haven locations.
Texas has a Safe Haven law that allows the legal surrender of newborns up to 60 days after birth to hospitals, fire stations, EMS providers, and baby boxes.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes has a confidential National Safe Haven Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, that provides free counseling and information about safe surrenders, including face-to-face surrenders.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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