Candace

Talmadge

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September 1, 2008

Compassionate Cornhuskers: Keeping Children Safe from Parental Malpractice

The boy’s mother was a drug-addicted prostitute. He took part in an after-school tutoring program for children at risk of dropping out of school that was run by a charity for which I have raised money since 1992. One night his mother was entertaining a customer on the couch when the boy, roused from sleep, entered the living room. His mother, high on something, pulled a gun from under the sofa and fired, killing him instantly.

Needless to say, the charity’s staff members who knew the boy were distraught over his violent death at the hands of his own parent.

That tragic tale comes to mind after reading about the unique new “safe haven” law from Nebraska. The text is short: "No person shall be prosecuted for any crime based solely upon the act of leaving a child in the custody of an employee on duty at a hospital licensed by the State of Nebraska. The hospital shall promptly contact appropriate authorities to take custody of the child."

The law, in force since July, does not limit the age of the child to infant, unlike most such statutes. It also does not state that the person surrendering custody must have legal guardianship of the child or even be a resident of Nebraska.

Kudos to those cornhuskers! This is truly compassionate, forward-thinking legislation that might actually prevent injuries and/or deaths among this nation’s underage population.

Being a parent is far tougher than the rosy images presented in the media. Sadly, too many people give more thought to buying a house or a job transfer than they do to whether or not they can handle the responsibilities of bringing up another human being or to a child’s wide-ranging impact on their lives. As the commercial says, “Having a baby changes everything,” except for some people’s ability or willingness to adapt to and cope with their new responsibilities. They just reproduce, and then they, their offspring and others are forced to live with consequences that can be devastating.

That’s what makes the Nebraska law so encouraging. It affords parents and even older children a second chance – a way out of a situation that has deteriorated past the point of endurance for all parties. It stretches beyond the “you-made-your-bed-so-lie-in-it” mentality that is punitive, unloving and so very unhelpful in such situations.

Predictably, the usual suspects have weighed in against this law, slamming it from many perspectives. It is by no means perfect, and most likely will generate court challenges and may even be revised. Yet no existing or proposed alternative is perfect, either. We already offer parenting classes. We already provide family counseling. We already pay for a whole host of child protective and other social services, not to mention a very expensive system of family courts – all devoted, presumably, to the welfare of the young people involved.

All of the preceding, however, operates on the faulty premise that a biological parent is the best person to raise a child. Unlike this Nebraska law, precious few of us are willing to acknowledge that sometimes having children is a mistake. Not everyone is cut out for parenting. Should children then suffer due to parental malpractice?

We do no one any favors by forcing parents to retain custody of offspring they don’t want and/or are unable to care for. Those concerned that laws similar to Nebraska’s will hike the costs of caring for a rash of abandoned children might consider that we are already paying – in more crime, more prosecution, more prisons. Then there is the sheer, incalculable misery of being a child whose legal guardians are irresponsible or negligent.

The best person to raise a child isn’t necessarily a biological parent. Nor is it necessarily every person who wants to adopt. Parenting remains a roll of the dice no matter how we try to rig the odds in favor of the biological family. That’s why Nebraska’s last ditch law has a legitimate role in helping minimize or even prevent additional suffering. 

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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