Alaska Legislature approves the use of ‘baby boxes’ to accept surrendered infants

Hospitals, fire stations and clinics in Alaska may soon have ‘baby boxes’ able to safely and anonymously accept infants surrendered by parents who may be unable to care for them. 

In a 35-5 vote Monday, the Alaska House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 9, amending the state’s safe-surrender law for infants to permit the construction of unmanned drop-off locations at public facilities. The Senate initially approved the bill in April.

SB 9, from Rep. Robb Myers, R-North Pole, is similar to legislation that has already been enacted by 22 other states.

“Safe surrender laws are a tool to help save lives,” Myers said in a prepared statement after the bill passed. “SB 9 puts another tool in the kit to help parents in crisis and keep babies in safe environments instead of the side of the road.”

The Senate voted 20-0 on Tuesday to accept the amended version of SB 9 passed by the House on Monday, an act that will send the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for enactment or veto.

Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks, sponsored the bill in the House and explained that it offers an alternative to Alaska’s existing safe-surrender law, which already permits someone to surrender an infant less than 21 days old to a responsible person.

Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, was one of a handful of legislators who voted against the bill. He said he was concerned about the implications for surrendering an infant who may have been kidnapped.