Baby box safe haven bill clears key hurdle in Peruvian congress

Lima, Peru, Mar 16, 2018 / 09:46 am

A save haven bill that would allow mothers to leave their children at certain drop off locations to be taken into state custody without punishment is moving forward in the Peruvian legislature.

The "Saving Cradles and Confidential Birth" bill passed out of the Committee on Women March 14 with a favorable vote of 4-2, clearing the way for its final passage by the full assembly of the unicameral Peruvian congress.

The Saving Cradles Association, which is backing the legislation, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister agency of CNA, that this bill seeks to help "Peruvian women who for some very personal reason cannot or do not want to raise the children they are expecting, as well to help their own unborn children, and to protect babies abandoned on the street which puts their lives in danger."

The bill provides for adequate and safe locations installed in private and public health care centers where women can leave their newborns. It establishes a legal procedure that allows for anonymity for the parents and places the state in charge of the adoption process.

Members of congress supporting the bill said that the legislation seeks to "give an alternative to women who cannot or do not want to raise their newborns, as well as to ensure the boy or girl's right to life and to live in a family."

The Saving Cradles Association congratulated "members of congress Betty Ananculi, Juan Carlos Gonzales, Tamar Arimborgo and Cecilia Chacón who are working in a concrete and effective manner for the women and children of Peru."

The organization said it is "hopeful that this goal will soon be achieved with a favorable vote in the full assembly of the Congress of the Republic."