US state law allows babies, kids and teens to be abandoned

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A month-old law in the US state of Nebraska which allows babies and children up to the age of 19 to be abandoned without their parents' knowledge was slammed Monday by a lawmaker and children's rights group.

The law "creates far more problems than it will ever solve, and it leaves the underlying problem untouched," said Ernie Chambers, the only lawmaker in the Nebraska state legislature to vote against the bill.

"I do not believe that a woman -- young, middle-aged or old -- just on a whim says 'I think I'll give up my baby'," Chambers said.

The law, which took effect on July 18, says: "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...