SAN ANTONIO — After a newborn baby was found alive on the side of a road on San Antonio's northeast side Tuesday afternoon, a San Antonian is calling for action.
Around 3:40 p.m., police were called to the area of 1900 Austin Highway. Police say they found a man carrying a baby with its umbilical cord still attached.
According to their investigation, a woman experiencing homelessness gave birth to the baby in the wooded area. Police say the woman then left the baby there, walked away and went up to a nearby bar area to "have a cigarette."
Pamela Allen a 'Baby Moses' advocate said this could have been preventable.
“The fact that the fire station is just right there - even more frustrating and thinking about the fact that that baby could have died," Allen said.
Allen is fighting to have 'baby boxes' installed in emergency locations like fire stations in San Antonio.
In 2024 the city allotted $250,000 to install up to a dozen temperature-controlled boxes to safely leave babies at these emergency locations. Since then Allen said no boxes have been installed.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 780 into law on June 20, 2023, which expanded the state’s Baby Moses law to allow the installation of Newborn Safety Devices for families in crisis to surrender their babies at designated emergency locations like fire stations.
The inclusion of Newborn Safety Devices as an option to surrender a child took effect September 1, 2023.
Allen previously told KENS 5 the option for parents to remain anonymous when surrendering their child is monumental since many tend to be intimidated when confronting officials.
That's what she repeated again today.
"The fact that this mother was homeless means there could be other factors involved," Allen said. " Was she trafficked, was this something she was expecting or was she assaulted, we don't know that."