CHICAGO, Ill. (WAND) — Governor JB Pritzker proclaimed April to be Save Abandoned Infants Month in Illinois. This comes 25 years after the Illinois Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act was passed into law.

The Illinois Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act passed with unanimous support in 2001 and is seen as a model for other states. Now, all 50 states have some form of Safe Haven Law.

The Safe Haven Law allows parents to relinquish their baby aged 30 days or younger to the care of staff at any Illinois hospital, police, or fire station. The baby will receive medical care and will be placed with an adoption agency. Parents of unharmed babies are not persecuted.

The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation says it gives a parent a safe and legal option who might otherwise abandon their newborn in a dumpster or other unsafe place. Parents are also given access to resources like medical care and counseling, if they choose to take them.

Dawn Geras, executive chair of the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation, said this law is life-saving. 

"You can go on with the rest of your life knowing that you have taken responsible, loving action and that your baby will be placed into the arms of an adoptive family," she said.

The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation said it has gone over 1,000 days without an illegal abandonment in the state. 

The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation has helped 163 legally relinquished children in Illinois. Geras said that 17 of the 163 parents changed their minds and kept their baby after receiving help and resources from the organization and their partners. She said 30 of the 163 parents decided to go the traditional adoption route after receiving help and resources from the organization and their partners.

Geras said she has studied the data, and this affects parents of all backgrounds in the state.

"It crosses all ages, all races, all socio-economic backgrounds. There's [no] profile. We've had girls as young as 14, but women as old as 44. Mothers [who] have other children and feel they just cannot cope with one more. Or the young girl who is afraid to tell her parents," she said.

The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation runs a 24-hour confidential hotline. Call 1-888-510-2229 if you need help.

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