Jaccard is used to receiving calls from mothers with nowhere else to turn. He runs a national emergency hotline for women who are considering abandoning their babies and works as the Safe Haven Coordinator for Nassau County, New York. That Saturday was particularly draining. Earlier that morning, Jaccard had attended the funeral of a baby boy found dead in his teenage mother’s apartment. The child had been wrapped in a towel and stuffed in a yellow leather handbag.
American safe haven laws: a stopgap measure
Today all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, have passed some form of safe haven law. And countries around the globe are paying attention. For example, Russia, which faces a severe child abandonment crisis, has studied the U.S.’s approach and helped sponsor conferences on children’s welfare to spur collaboration between the two countries.