Abigail Shimniok

Gov. Tony Evers signed a law that allows the usage of “baby boxes,” a device placed in hospitals, fire departments and police stations that allow parents to surrender their newborns.
The child must be less than 72 hours old to be able to be placed in baby boxes. The baby boxes function as a door from the outside. When the door is opened, the baby can be placed in a basinet and the parent would then close it and lock it from the outside. The boxes can only be in a temperature-controlled area that is open 24 hours.
The previous safe haven laws in Wisconsin, required parents to be face-to-face to be able to hand over their newborn to hospital personnel, firefighters or police without being prosecuted. The problem with this previous law was that parents that need to give up their children want to remain anonymous in this process, causing them to illegally abandon their children, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentential.
15 states currently have the baby boxes law enacted; all other states have face-to-face surrender only.
According to the National Safe Haven Alliance, “In 2021, 31 babies were placed in dumpsters, found in backpacks or discarded in other dangerous locations. 22 of these infants were found deceased. 73 babies were saved by Safe Haven laws in 2021.”
The Wisconsin law was written after a Whitewater, WI woman, Santos Asucena Caseres Cruz, 38, abandoned her child which resulted in the baby’s death in March. The child was almost two months old at the time of death.
The baby was found in a garbage bag within a box in a field by someone living at the trailer park where Cruz lived. Cruz was interviewed and after lying once about the death of her child, it had been revealed the newborn was choking and was turning purple, but Cruz never called police, Gazette Xtra reported. Cruz has been charged with neglect of a child with up to 37 years in prison and $125,000 in fines.
“Sadly, the expansion of the safe haven Law came to a head earlier this year after a newborn was found dead in a field in Whitewater,” Rep. Ellen Schutt said. “Members of the community came to me expressing an interest in making sure this did not happen again, and I am glad we were able to find a solution and get this law enacted.” Schutt wrote the expansion on the safe haven law.
Schutt also mentions how parents are less likely to give up their children face-to-face because of the “stigma” of the people around them knowing they gave up their children.
“The Safe Haven Baby Box takes the face-to-face interaction out of the surrender and protects the mother from being seen … Thirty-Seven babies have been surrendered in our Baby Boxes,” The Safe Haven Baby Organization reported.
“Expanding safeguards for kids across Wisconsin is a priority for my administration, and this bill provides a solution that will hopefully keep newborns and infants safe from harm,” Evers said.