Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Signs Bill Legalizing Safe Haven Baby Boxes

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill on Tuesday that allows devices in the state designed to prevent infant abandonment. 

HB 350, also named the Eliza Jane Warner act after a newborn who was fatally abandoned on the side of the road in Troup County in 2019, expands the state’s Safe Haven law to allow newborn safety devices at fire stations, police stations, hospitals and ambulance services. 

Safe Haven Baby Boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Then, the outside door locks, and mothers have time to get away before an alarm goes off, alerting first responders or hospital staff inside.

The baby is then quickly removed and