You read it on the front page of the newspaper or see it on the nightly news...a newborn baby found in a back alley. Teenage parents give birth in a motel room and leave the child for dead in a dumpster. A girl gives birth in a high school bathroom during the prom, throws the baby into the garbage, and returns to the dance floor after touching up her makeup. These stories relate one of the most frightening realities of our culture today: some children are viewed as problems to be thrown away rather than gifts to be treasured.
More recently, the tragedy of Baby Abandonment has begun to be addressed by state legislatures throughout the nation. For example, a number of states have passed laws to provide funding, care, and services for abandoned children. These legislative actions have also established 'safe houses' - public centers such as fire stations, police stations, and other public areas where women can bring unwanted children rather then leaving them in trash receptacles. The hope is that, by offering an alternative to abandonment, women might leave their children with people who can help the baby.
The Baby Moses Project was founded in Texas to help newly born children who were abandoned by their mothers. Visit their site at www.texasepc.com/bmp1/.
