This post originally appeared at https://wifamilycouncil.org/radio/a-lifesaving-legacy/
2025 | Week of February 24 | Radio Transcript #1607
One evening a number of years ago, South Korean Pastor Lee Jong-Rak found a newborn baby on his church’s doorstep. That incident resulted in this dear pastor doing what he could to rescue abandoned infants in Seoul.
Pastor Lee installed what has become known as a “drop box” in his home. It was an incubated box with a bell that would alert him when a baby had been dropped off—rather than just, to put it delicately, being disposed of. In 2015, a film was made, “The Drop Box,” telling of Pastor Lee’s heroic work that has resulted in over 1900 babies being saved in South Korea, with many more “drop boxes” installed across that country.
The film got the attention of people in our country. In 2016, the first “drop box,” called a “baby box” in the US, was installed in Indiana as a part of that state’s Safe Haven law. Pastor Lee is leaving an incredible, life-saving legacy!
And, as a part of that legacy, just last year, right here in our state, Governor Evers signed into law the Safe Haven Baby Box Bill, which expanded our existing Safe Haven law passed in 2001. The Safe Haven Baby Box Bill allows parents to anonymously and without any face-to-face interaction with any official, relinquish their newborn baby less than 72 hours old by placing him or her in a secured, ventilated, temperature-controlled “baby box” outside fully staffed hospitals, fire stations, or police stations. Once a baby has been dropped off, the box automatically locks and triggers an alarm to alert building staff to the presence of the baby.
Under our Safe Haven law, a parent can also directly hand the newborn to a law enforcement officer, an emergency medical services practitioner, or a hospital staff member. A parent surrendering the child is not required to leave a name or address. An adoption plan is created for babies surrendered through the original Safe Haven program, as well as this additional provision.[1][2]
Even though these protections of anonymity are offered in our original Safe Haven law, some parents in desperate situations may still feel too nervous to meet with someone face to face to surrender their child. That’s why the baby boxes provide an additional option to ensure the safety of a baby while protecting the parents. The use of the baby boxes is a non-judgmental way for parents in crisis situations to ensure their baby receives proper care.
Since the Safe Haven Baby Box Bill was passed, a total of four baby boxes have been installed in Wisconsin in the cities of Elkhorn, Racine, and Reedsburg, and the most recent one in Howard. Baby boxes cost around $16,000 to purchase and install, but the value of a life saved is priceless.[3]
Safe Haven laws have saved thousands of lives in the United States, and baby boxes themselves have saved at least 50 babies. More than 300 boxes now span at least 11 states.[4]
Furthermore, there is a 24-hour hotline that mothers in crisis pregnancies can call or text and receive resources on how to move forward with their pregnancy in a safe, supported manner. That hotline number is 1-866-99BABY1 or 1-866-992-2291. That hotline is staffed by professionals ready to provide non-judgmental information and emotional support.
The boxes are meant to be used as a last resort with the goal of reaching parents in crisis pregnancies before they reach the point of needing to surrender. Simply being aware of the existence of the four baby boxes in Wisconsin and the availability of the hotline could help save a life in your community.
Providing the baby box information or the hotline number could ensure a newborn is safely surrendered instead of abandoned, or parents facing a crisis pregnancy might just feel supported enough to gain a sense of hope and consider visiting a pro-life pregnancy resource center or pursue the route of adoption themselves.
You can help bring a baby box to your town by meeting with your local community leaders, fire stations, and hospital administrators and encouraging them to initiate the process of purchasing and installing a baby box at the location. Being an advocate for a baby box in your town and helping to raise money to pay for it could be your way of helping to directly and positively impact your community and potentially save lives in the process—and what a legacy that would be!
For Wisconsin Family Council, this is Julaine Appling, reminding you that God, through the Prophet Hosea, said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
[1]https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/wisconsin-right-to-life-celebrates-the-passage-of-safe-haven-baby-box-law-in-wisconsin/
[2]https://adoptionsofwisconsin.com/baby-boxes-wisconsin-safe-haven
[3]https://www.cbs58.com/news/elkhorn-welcomes-wisconsins-2nd-safe-haven-baby-box
[4]https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258132/50th-baby-saved-thanks-to-safe-haven-boxes-in-us
Sierra John