Arizona Safe Haven Law Expanding, Allowing Longer Time For Surrender

Arizona is now giving new parents more time for safely surrendering their babies if they feel like they can't safely and properly parents them, reported AZ Family.

New parents now have 30 days after the birth to safely surrender their babies under the Safe Have law. Previously, parents only had a few days.

The previous 72-hour safe haven law has been around for a while, but not many people know about it.

Heather Burner, executive director of Arizona Safe Baby Haven Foundation, said, "What we're showing is that we actually want to support these parents and I think that there's not a better way to do that than to say, 'We want to support you we want to give you this time to make an educated decision.'"

Burner said that mothers generally haven't even been released from the hospital within 72 hours, so the extension will give them enough time to really think about their options.

The new law extension will go into effect sometime around July.

"I think that they need a little bit more time, a little bit more space, a little bit more clarity in their brain," said Arizona mother, Nicole Olson, who got her baby, Porter, because of the Safe Haven law. "I think the 30 days is going to help more children get their forever homes and their forever families."

Photo: Getty Images