SAN ANTONIO — Pamela Allen with Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach says she woke up to Wednesday to great news.
“I got a message from state representative Ina Minjarez saying she had filed the bill. This is going to impact infants not just in San Antonio, but in the whole state of Texas,” Allen said.
The bill Allen is talking about is an extension of the Baby Moses law.
“The Baby Moses law is simple. You can safely surrender a baby if it’s unharmed, and no prosecution will come to you,” Allen said.
Right now in Texas, under the Baby Moses law, new parents have up to 60 days to give up their babies without fear of consequence. If the new bill proposed passes through the Texas legislature, parents would have up to 12 months to make that decision.
“We hope that we have more infants safely surrendered that will bring more awareness because there’s a lot of people your age that don’t even know about this law,” Allen said.
Through her organization, Allen provides burial services for abandoned babies, and she says this bill could change the outcomes for a lot of babies to come.
“I’ve sat with a mother who murdered her child, and not only is her child’s life over but the rest of her life is over because she’s in jail for murder,” Allen said.
Allen says this would give more babies the second chance at life they deserve.
“We’re hoping that once the law gets passed, that we can have a huge Baby Moses campaign here in our city to be able to let young people know that this law exists to protect them,” Allen said.