Last month, a mother abandoned a newborn girl in a garbage sack in Tacoma Park. Police found her alive, but she died later that day.
Prince George’s County detectives located the mother and charged her with murder. They located the baby’s extended family, who did not want to claim the body. So the detectives did the only humane thing left to do: they named the girl (Maria del Pilar) and planned the funeral. On Monday, they were the only attendees at Maria’s burial. She lies next to two other infants who were also found in trash sacks over the past few years.
The most frustrating thing is that these deaths could have been easily avoided. All three mothers could have abandoned their babies safely and legally. Maryland has a safe haven abandonment law that allows mothers to relinquish their newborns up to 72 hours after giving birth. A mother can drop off her baby at a fire station, a church, a hospital, or another safe place and simply walk away. Virginia has a similar law.
Specifically, the laws in metropolitan Washington, D.C. are as follows:
- Maryland: A mother may safely deliver a child to a responsible adult, hospital, or other designated facility within three days of the baby’s birth.
- Virginia: A parent may safely deliver a child to a hospital with 24-hour emergency services, or to a rescue squad that includes emergency medical technicians within the baby’s first 14 days of life.
- District of Columbia: The legislature has not enacted a safe haven law yet.
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