DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say another newborn has been turned over to state custody under Iowa’s safe haven law.
The Iowa Human Services Department said in a news release Thursday the child was born July 6 and released to state custody. The department didn’t say where the birth took place.
It’s the 28th time the law has been used to protect the welfare of an infant since the law was approved following a 2001 case in which a teenage mother in eastern Iowa killed her home-delivered newborn.
The law lets parents hand over custody of babies up to 14 days old without fear of prosecution.
