Rescued Baby Puts Focus On Safe Haven Law

By Camela Furry in News on Aug 27, 2009 3:40PM

After working the night shift at Pockets in Lincoln Park, Victorino Valle pulled his minivan in the garage of his Brighton Park home and just before closing the garage door, turned to see his 8-year old son Alexander in a state of shock. Alexander told his father that he heard a baby crying in the alley. His parents discovered a crying newborn lying in a trash can and immediately called 911. According to Chi-Town Daily News, when the police arrived they found a two-week old boy in the trash can which was filling with rain water.

On Tuesday Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan and Dawn Geras, founder of Save the Abandoned Babies Foundation, presented Alexander Valle and his parents with a "Hero's Award" for saving the baby's life, according to Chicago Breaking News, who also reported that the baby was treated at Saint Anthony and was in good condition.

At the award presentation, Madigan said "What we want people to know is that there is a safe haven law that allows babies to be relinquished safely and without fear of prosecution, if there's no harm to that child, at hospitals, police stations and at fire stations."

The Illinois Safe Haven Law passed in 2001 and allows unwanted babies to be left at haven locations within a week of birth. Chi-Town Daily News tells us that in 2010, the law will be changed to allow parents to abandon a child within 30 days of birth. 53 babies have been dropped off at safe havens since the law passed in 2001. Unfortunately, another 57 were illegally abandoned and a little over half of those babies did not survive.