7/21/04
Boston City Councillor John M. Tobin, Jr. praised members of the Massachusetts Senate for passing a Safe Haven bill today, which will help protect newborn babies who are abandoned by their parents. The Senate’s proposal is the outgrowth of a home rule petition originally sponsored by Councillor Tobin and unanimously passed by the Boston City Council last year.

“I am thrilled that the Massachusetts Legislature overwhelmingly supports a law that will help protect newborns in this state from being left in dangerous circumstances by desperate and fearful parents who are unable to care for them,” said Councillor Tobin, who represents West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. “I am optimistic that Massachusetts is well on its way to becoming the 46th state in the nation with designated safe havens for children.”

Under the city’s bill, and now the Legislature’s version, parents who abandon their children can leave them in the care of a hospital emergency room or a police or fire department without facing prosecution if a child is dropped off within seven days of birth. Boston was the first community in Massachusetts to pass a Home Rule Petition urging the Legislature to pass a Safe Haven Law. Eighteen other local communities followed.

Councillor Tobin has been a strong supporter of a Safe Haven Law because of personal experience with the issue. His younger brother, Patrick, now 28, was abandoned as an infant. Patrick was discovered under a motorcycle in the hallway of a South Boston building. Once police were notified by a resident, he was given emergency medical care and later placed in the custody of the state’s Department of Social Services. Councillor Tobin’s parents took Patrick in a few days later and eventually adopted him. On Beacon Hill the legislation was informally known as the “Patrick Tobin Bill.”

“We are so grateful that Patrick was found and became part of our family. Unfortunately, not all abandoned babies are as lucky,” said Councillor Tobin. “My family and I look forward to the signing of this bill into state law so that the fate of abandoned children is not left entirely to chance.”

Under current state law, biological parents face up to two years in jail for abandoning a child under the age of 10 if they fail to notify an appropriate agency of their inability to support the child within four weeks of the abandonment.

The bill requires the signature of Governor Mitt Romney before it can take effect statewide.