Free Republic

OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska's new "safe-haven" law allowing parents to abandon unwanted children at hospitals with no questions asked is unique in a significant way: It goes beyond babies and potentially permits the abandonment of anyone under 19. While lawmakers may not have intended it, the month-old law raises the possibility that frustrated parents could drop off misbehaving teens or even severely disabled older children with impunity. "Whether the kid is disabled or unruly or just being a hormonal teenager, the state is saying: 'Hey, we have a really easy option for you,'" said Adam Pertman, executive director of a...

A 14-year-old Bridgeton teenager was charged Wednesday with murder for allegedly drowning her newborn child in a public toilet last weekend. According to Cumberland County Prosecutor Ron Casella, the teenager, identified in a complaint by the initials "I.S.," was charged with purposely causing the death of her newborn baby boy during a Cinco de Mayo celebration Sunday at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds, in Millville. "She was served with a complaint alleging murder. Specifically, she gave birth to the baby in a public toilet, then removed him from the working toilet bowl and placed him in the tank," Casella said Wednesday....

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK -- A baby girl was pronounced dead after she was found in a garbage bag on a back porch early Saturday, police said. A 25-year-old woman was being questioned about the infant, police said. The woman was taken to a hospital with a medical problem around 9 p.m. Friday, and a doctor called authorities to say she might have given birth, according to police. They were directed to a Brooklyn home, where they found the infant unconscious around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. The baby was pronounced dead at a local hospital, police said. Medical examiners were working to...