Kitty Litter Time: Stupid Things People Say About Safe Haven Baby Boxes

The Putative Boss (PB) reminded me this afternoon that I have neglected to tend to my Kitty Litter in the last couple of weeks. No, my box is clean, but I’ve neglected to share some of the nuggets of wisdom I scooped out for the archives. (Sorry to be disgusting, but they are disgusting.) I think these baby box fans mean well, but, you know what they say about “good intentions.” Scratch that! I think some of them mean well. Professional spielers do not.

I intended to rank these reductio absurdum ad Infinitum quotes, but I’m in the middle of a BIG PROJECT. I filed them and can’t remember where or under what. So, here are the latest scoops that haven’t been filed. They are in chronological order with links to the source. MEOW! I couldn’t make this stuff up.

Choices! Choices! Choices!

This is important to give moms and dads a last resort option if they can’t choose a parenting plan or they can’t’ choose an adoption plan and they can’t walk into this firehouse and hand their child to a person…Monica Kelsey, Founder, and CEO, Safe Have Baby Boxes, Shiveley Kentucky Box Blessing, August 30, 2022

Baby Boxes Relieve Fear and Embarrassment

The decision to surrender a newborn child must be an excruciating experience in a period of desperation. These “baby boxes” would allow them to safely leave their infant quickly and anonymously while removing the barrier of fear and embarrassment that comes with a face-to-face interaction.-—San Antonio, Texas District 9 Councilman John Courage, Press Release, September 2, 2022

Baby Boxes Maintain Privilege, Patriarchy, and Poverty

There is no shortage of people who want to have newborns. If there is a mother who is distressed because she has been abandoned by the father or has bad economic times, the safe haven laws protect that mother up to 30 days after birth.-–Hot Springs, Arkansas,Fire Chief Ed Davis, September 9, 2022

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I am going to take a small leap here and say that maybe–just maybe–Councilman John Courage (reportedly supports abortion rights) and Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales, quoted in Courage’s press release, are pushing baby boxes to keep local women out of jail. Months ago Gonzales said, in light of Dobbs and the new Draconian anti-abortion law in Texas, he will not prosecute anyone in Bexar Country involved in abortion. While that is commendable, bringing in Safe Haven Baby Boxes as some kind of stay-out-of-jail card is not the way to protect the rights of women and children–and adoptees and potential adoptees– in his jurisdiction. Just the opposite. It’s playing into the hands of SHBB Inc and its misogynist baby grubbygraby allies. This is how stealth works, and this is just the beginning