Secret Safe Haven Looks to Save Unwanted Newborns in Michigan
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Very difficult to hear when parents abandon a newborn baby. In Michigan, though, it is a felony that could lead to a 10-year prison term. Now prosecutors in three different counties have come up with an alternative they hope will save the lives of unwanted newborns. Reporter Dina Senatafante (ph) of CNN affiliate WJBK now with more.</s>DINA SENTAFANTE, WJBK REPORTER (voice-over): This child, left on a church doorstep in a garbage bag, was almost thrown away by a church worker. He whimpered, it saved his life. Last month, this baby girl was thrown in the dumpster in Detroit left to die. She survived, but only because her screams were heard. So many abandoned babies don't survive, and protecting these newborns is the goal of Secret Safe Haven.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe their pregnancy is a secret, they are embarrassed to let others know, and they are thinking of abandoning the child to circumstances where the child will die. We don't want that.</s>SENTAFANTE: So if a women takes a baby to a hospital emergency room and there are no signs of abuse, there will be no questions asked. Police wonder about accountability.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What message does it send, you know, have a baby, you don't want it, drop it off.</s>SENTAFANTE: Even proponents say it's far from perfect, but better than the alternative.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a no-win situation, but this is a better outcome that we have seen in some of the other recent cases, where the baby has been abandoned to death.</s>SENTAFANTE: In Detroit, Dina Sentafante.