Of Saviors And Safe Havens At Christmas

Michelle Malkin
December 23, 2003, 9:00 am

Bless all the dear children

In Thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with Thee there

This is a Christmas message for
every mother in crisis who has abandoned a baby—a tiny
bundle delivered in secret, stashed away in shame, and
disposed of somewhere, anywhere, to survive or die
alone.

This is for the mother of
Baby Liberty, a newborn girl found alive wrapped in
a white cloth at a construction site near Laytonsville,
Md., on July 4th.

And for the mother of

Baby Tyler Doe, a newborn boy found alive in a
cardboard box in the back of a car in Swansea, Mass.,
two days after Halloween.

And for the mother of Baby
Catherine Hope, a newborn girl found dead in a plastic
shopping bag on a

Brooklyn church`s porch the Sunday after
Thanksgiving.

And for the mother of

Baby Noel Christmas, a newborn girl found alive
wrapped in a towel on a bench behind a hospital in
Easton, Md., two weeks ago.

And for every mother-to-be who is
thinking of doing something similarly unthinkable with
their unborn sons and daughters.

As a mother who has just joyously
brought a baby boy into the world, I cannot imagine your
despair. I cannot fathom your horror.

Those of us with healthy children
and happy marriages and doting families often take for
granted our bountiful blessings. It would be so easy to
condemn you, to pontificate about your recklessness, to
attack your selfishness, to mete out blame and shame.
But not now.

During this Christmas season, in
which we commemorate the birth of the Savior, please
know that you are not alone. Whether you are 14 or 40,
rich or poor, black or white, abused or confused, know
that there are countless strangers across the country
praying for you and the souls of your children.

Witness the outpouring of
compassion when Baby Liberty was discovered lying in the
grass, dehydrated and bug-bitten but otherwise healthy.
When the news broke, hundreds called offering to take
her into their homes.

Witness the outpouring of grief
when Baby Catherine Hope was discovered on the doorsteps
of the Resurrection and the Life Church. Some 200
mourners—cops, congregants, and strangers—turned out for
the newborn`s funeral complete with honor guard and
bagpipe marchers.

"Any one of us in this church –
or this entire neighborhood—would have done anything to
help that mother and child. People have to know this,
that they`re not alone, so this doesn`t happen again,"
parishioner Elizabeth Dodd told the New York Post.

You are not alone. That is also the
message the Newborn Lifeline Network is trying to
disseminate. The non-profit group operates a 24-hour,
toll-free hotline (866-694-BABY) and a Web site at

www.newbornlifeline.com "to prevent newborn
abandonment by providing one-stop assistance for
birthmothers in crisis nationwide."

Volunteers have fielded more than
600 calls. They provide counseling and information about
infant safe haven laws that allow parents to leave their
babies in safe arms at hospitals, police stations, and
other designated areas without fear of prosecution.

The first such law was signed in
1999 by George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, after

13 babies were abandoned in the Houston area within
a year. Once the law was advertised,

four babies were turned over at safe havens in Harris
County within 12 months.

In Idaho, five babies have been
left at safe havens since a

similar law was passed in the summer of 2001.

In New Jersey, 14 newborns have
been left at police stations and emergency rooms since a
safe haven law was passed three years ago.

Supporters of safe havens are
asking public officials, private businesses, and the
media for more help in saving the lives of innocents by
spreading word of the laws.

What better time to do so than
during the celebration of a

sacred event, some two thousand years ago, when a
newborn babe found

wintry refuge in a barn under the stars.

Michelle Malkin [email
her] is author of

Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists,
Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores.
Click

here for Peter Brimelow`s review. Click

here for Michelle Malkin`s website.