Among several new laws that took effect this week are two intended to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Kudos to the Minnesota Legislature for seeing the need and effecting the needed changes.
Minnesota’s law for legally abandoning a newborn baby now provides more options. The new law says parents can call 911 for an ambulance or take the newborn to an urgent care clinic or hospital within seven days. The old law enacted in 2000 was among the strictest in the nation and required parents to turn over an unwanted newborn to a hospital within three days
Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson pushed for the new law after the body of a baby girl was found floating in a canvas bag in the Mississippi River near Winona last fall. Jesson also cited three similar infant deaths in southeastern Minnesota.
The law still gives mothers a chance to change their minds and reclaim the children they abandoned.
Another law calls for people who intentionally neglect a vulnerable adult or mistreat a child to face a more serious criminal charge.
The new law creates a felony crime for intentional deprivation of a vulnerable adult, such as with food, clothing, shelter or health care, when the caregiver “is reasonably able to make the necessary provisions.”
Supporters said the law comes in response to a number of cases where people were literally left to rot in their own filth and other abuse stories where the perpetrator could only be charged with gross misdemeanor. Additionally, the law creates a new two-year felony offense for child mistreatment that results in “demonstrable bodily harm.”
A civilized society has a moral responsibility to do the best it can to create a system of protections for those who cannot protect themselves. These changes in law do just that.
