Florida’s six-week abortion ban officially went into effect this week. But another bill that also aimed to reduce the number of abortions could soon become law as well.
An expansion of Florida’s “safe harbor” policy — which decriminalizes the surrender of unwanted children as long as they are turned over to specific agencies like hospitals, fire departments and EMS — faces just one more hurdle to becoming law. It has long been a piece of legislation in the toolbox of anti-abortion supporters who see the legal delivery of children as a way to encourage more women to carry their pregnancies to term.
The bills its fate still hangs in the balance because it has yet to be sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk by legislative leaders. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the bill, but a sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Mike Beltran, said he does not anticipate a veto.
But unlike many proposals considered alongside outright abortion bans — such as “fetal personhood” or funding decisions — Florida’s Safe Haven bill drew bipartisan support during the legislative session earlier this year. It has had success with anti-abortion lawmakers who support it in hopes of further reducing abortions, and with frustrated pro-abortion lawmakers who see it as a triage to help a desperate person with no other options.
“This was a way to do something pro-life without getting the left agitated,” Beltran, an Apollo Beach Republican, said in an interview. “It was a good way to find common ground on the issue of life when options were more limited.”
State law currently allows delivery within 7 days of the child’s birth. This bill would more than quadruple the time to 30 days and would also authorize 911 responders to arrange a baby drop-off location if the child’s caregiver does not have transportation to an agency location.
There are safe haven laws in all 50 states, with the legal time frame often varying from 3 days to a month, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Florida’s first Safe Harbor law was passed 20 years ago. These laws are typically preventative measures, Beltran said. In difficult circumstances, people who are unable to care for a child will abandon them, and these laws exist to prevent these children from dying, he said. (For example, a dead child was found in a bathroom at the University of Tampa earlier this week.)
Anti-abortion lawmakers have long tried to pass an expansion, even as they seek stricter abortion bans. Before Dobbs x Jackson Women’s Health — the Supreme Court decision that nullified national protections against Roe — Beltran and several others were working to approve this expansion in 2020.
At that time, the main the focus was on “baby boxes” – authorizing the use of containers in fire stations or hospitals with silent alarms that would go off when a child was placed inside, alerting staff to the delivery and therefore allowing the exchange to be anonymous. Met with resistance from some lawmakers claiming that it was a gimmick intended primarily to enrich an organization, since the organization, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, specializes in the product, Beltran said (a Safe Haven Baby Boxes spokesperson declined to comment).
After a few years, Beltran and Republican state Rep. Jennifer Canady eliminated the language on baby boxes and decided to co-sponsor a bill focusing solely on expanding the deadline during the 2024 legislative session. legislative chambers with unanimous approval.
As the six week ban hovered over the state during the session, the bill also found bipartisan support. Democratic state Rep. Robin Bartleman said that while she still opposes the state’s new abortion ban, this bill will create an alternative for a considerable number of women now forced to experience unwanted pregnancies.
“As soon as the child is born, as soon as the child is born, we want to save the child,” Bartleman said. “And there are no stories of them being thrown in a trash bag. It’s really terrible this year.”
But support from pro-abortion groups for this law comes only grudgingly, if at all.
Laura Goodhue, executive director of Planned Parenthood’s Florida chapters, said the need to expand the Safe Haven law does not address the root of the problem and implies a lack of infrastructure for pregnant women in the first place.
Goodhue said it would be a “cruel world” if lawmakers had to resort to last-minute solutions like this to help women in need — and continue to grow Florida’s foster care population, which was more than 24,000 in 2022. Instead, she said it was vital that votersruin the referendum at the polls in Florida in November, this would restore the right to abortion before viability, which is usually around 24 weeks.
“Women who need a Safe Harbor law, that means they have no one,” Goodhue said. “Who else are they turning to? They have not received counseling about adoption or abortion, or otherwise.”
