Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed Alaska Senate Bill 9 into law.

Introduced to protect newborn infants from being abandoned in Alaska’s freezing weather, the new law allows parents to anonymously surrender a baby in a protective “baby box.”

Previously, Alaska law required parents to surrender a newborn (21 days old or younger) to another individual – in-person – which was a barrier for those who cannot bring themselves to relinquish their baby in this manner.

Thanks to SB 9, parents can now place their newborn in a clearly marked climate-controlled container located at a hospital, emergency department, birthing center, doctor’s office, clinic, police or fire station or other approved areas.

For the bill signing, Right to Life Interior’s April Smith and I joined Rep. Frank Tomaszewski and Sen. Robb Meyers and their staff, along with the first responders who were directly impacted by the tragic death of an infant who was left to freeze to death in Anchorage.

And thank you to the emergency responders who are the first on the scene during these tragedies. May God bless them and their families.

The event occurred at Northstar Fire Department in North Pole, with support from the fire chief and the first responders who serve there. It was a day to remember, with Gov. Dunleavy, Sen. Meyers, Rep. Tomaszewski and the fire chief all praising the bill.

Listening to Gov. Dunleavy’s heartfelt concern for our Alaska children, I began to cry. I pray that in the upcoming election we see high conservative voter turnout and get another governor who prioritizes the same values for families and children. 

Without children and families, our state withers and fades away. They should always be paramount. With every law and each decision, the question should be, “How does this help Alaskan children and families?”

Now that SB 9 is the law of the land, the next step is to identify local fire departments and clinics around the state that will install these baby boxes.  Ask yourself, “Does my community need a safe place to surrender newborns, while also keeping the mother anonymous?”

Safe Haven is an organization dedicated to baby box distribution throughout the United States. They have the training and resources needed to help install these boxes. If you know of a community that wants to learn more about this, feel free to contact Safe Haven or me at Christisourhope@protonmail.com. 

I want to thank Rep. Tomaszewski and Sen. Meyers and their hardworking staff for the hours, weeks and months they spent championing this bill. Also, thank you to all who co-sponsored the bill. A special thank you to Theresa from Sen. Meyers’ office. She was on the front lines throughout the entire process – start to finish – always keeping us in the loop with emails. 

And thank you to the emergency responders who are the first on the scene during these tragedies. May God bless them and their families.

I pray that there will be no more frozen babies. I pray the next overwhelmed or frightened mother, who feels she must leave her precious newborn for whatever reason, will know where to go and feel safe, knowing that she will be anonymous and her baby will be warm and well cared for if she uses one of these boxes at her local fire department or clinic. 

Now that the law has passed, the real work begins – fundraising, installing and notifying the public.

How refreshing to see us all work together to really save lives. 

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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