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Friends of the Fourth
District:
Among the many projects and issues I have worked on during my time
as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, perhaps
the one accomplishment I am most proud of is our highly-successful
Safe Surrender Program.
This wonderful program is based on the 2001 Statewide Safe Haven Law
and it allows unwanted newborns to be confidentially surrendered
within 72 hours of birth, rather than a parent abandoning that baby
in a trash can or by other tragic means. In the seven years since we
began the program, the lives of 67 newborns have been saved across
our County.
Unfortunately, for the third consecutive year, the success of Safe
Surrender is again threatened. Right now in Sacramento, lawmakers in
the California State Assembly are debating a Bill that would do far
more harm than good to Safe Surrender. Assembly Bill 2262 (AB 2262)
would change the time to anonymously surrender a newborn from 72
hours to one week.
It is the same Bill, authored by the same Legislator, which has been
successfully defeated the last two times it was proposed. Key to
those defeats was vetoes by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006
and again in 2007.
When he issued his original veto, the Governor expressed a concern
that is still true about the current version of this Legislation:
extending the Safe Surrender time period is a dangerous move.
Research shows newborns are at the greatest homicide risk during the
first day of life. The Emergency Pediatric Care Journal reported
that 83 percent of all newborn deaths occur shortly after birth.
There is absolutely no scientific evidence that extending the
surrender window to one week will provide additional benefits to
newborns.
An extension from 72 hours to one week could also lead to serious
medical issues for these newborns. Access to quality medical care in
the first hours of life is an absolutely critical component of the
Safe Surrender Program and it will be placed in jeopardy if this new
version of the same old Legislation passes. That is a risk we simply
cannot afford.
So how can you help? Join me in my fight against Assembly Bill 2262.
Contact your legislators and tell them to oppose it. Tell them there
are ways to improve Safe Surrender by providing funding for outreach
and education programs rather than trying to cast a wider net by
moving the 72 hours up to one week. Tell lawmakers it is worth
fighting for – we need look no further than the 67 children that are
alive today in Los Angeles County for proof that this program is
working.
Finally this month, I wanted to share with you that beginning in the
next few weeks; a very special Safe Surrender Public Service
Announcement (PSA) entitled “Life” will be released on Time Warner
Cable stations throughout Los Angeles County. This brand-new PSA
highlighting the Safe Surrender Program is now available for viewing
on my website at
www.knabe.com/safesurrender
DON KNABE
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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