Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a bill to extend the state’s safe haven law, allowing parents up to 30 days after birth to anonymously surrender a newborn. Currently, babies can only be surrendered within the first 72 hours.
Rep. Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger), who introduced the bill, believes three days may not be enough time for a parent to make such a difficult decision. “It might not be enough time for a mother to decide whether or not to give the baby up,” he said.
Since 2012, 224 infants have been surrendered under the current law. The aim of the new bill is to reduce infant deaths caused by neglect or abandonment, an issue highlighted by the 2023 death of a newborn left in a field in Whitewater.
Gundrum emphasized that the bill is about child safety and is not intended to impact abortion rates, despite the coinciding drop in surrenders following the Supreme Court’s 2022 abortion ruling. The number of surrenders decreased from 29 in 2022 to 15 in 2024, after abortion services were resumed in Wisconsin.
Since 2020, Dane County has seen 10 infants surrendered, all at hospitals. The Madison Fire Department and police stations have not reported any instances of receiving a surrendered infant. If a baby were dropped off at a fire station, EMS staff would transport the child to a hospital for evaluation.
The proposed legislation does not change how surrendered infants are handled but would extend the timeframe for parents to make the decision. The bill has received support from both Republicans and Democrats, with a similar bill passing the Assembly last year before failing to make it through the Senate.
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