HB1718.html

To amend Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to domestic relations, so as to provide for voluntary relinquishment of a newborn under certain circumstances; to provide for a short title; to provide for legislative intent; to provide that a mother who leaves a newborn child in the custody of an employee, agent, or staff member of a medical facility in specified circumstances shall not be prosecuted for specified crimes because of such act; to provide for duties of medical facilities accepting a newborn child for inpatient admission and the Department of Human Resources; to provide for reimbursement for certain costs; to provide for civil and criminal immunity for medical facilities and their employees; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

19_10A_1.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the 'Safe Place for Newborns Act of 2002.'

19_10A_2.
As used in this chapter, the term 'medical facility' shall mean any licensed general or specialized hospital, institutional infirmary, health center operated by a county board of health, or facility where human births occur on a regular and ongoing basis which is classified by the Department of Human Resources as a birthing center, but shall not mean physicians´ or dentists´ private offices.
19_10A_3.
It is the express purpose and intent of the General Assembly in enacting this chapter to prevent injuries to and deaths of newborn children that are caused by a mother who abandons the newborn.

19_10A_4.
A mother shall not be prosecuted for the crimes of cruelty to a child, Code Section 16_5_70; contributing to the delinquency, unruliness, or deprivation of a child, Code Section 16_12_1; or abandonment of a dependent child, Code Section 19_10_1, because of the act of leaving her newborn child in the physical custody of an employee, agent, or member of the staff of a medical facility who is on duty, whether there in a paid or volunteer position; provided that the newborn child is no more than one week old, the mother shows proof of her identity, if available, to the person with whom the newborn is left, and the mother is asked to provide her name and address and the identity of the father.

19_10A_5.
The Department of Human Resources shall investigate and report to the General Assembly as to children left with a medical facility pursuant to Code Section 19_10A_4, including in such report the desirability and cost effectiveness of a dedicated toll_free telephone line for providing information to and answering questions from the public and employees and staff members of medical facilities concerning the acts and consequences thereof contemplated in Code Section 19_10A_4.

19_10A_6.
A medical facility which accepts for inpatient admission a child left pursuant to Code Section 19_10A_4 shall be reimbursed by the Department of Human Resources for all reasonable medical and other reasonable costs associated with the child prior to the child being placed in the care of the department. A medical facility shall notify the Department of Human Resources at such time as the child is left and at the time the child is medically ready for discharge. Upon notification that the child is medically ready for discharge, the Department of Human Resources shall take physical custody of the child within six hours. The Department of Human Resources upon taking physical custody shall promptly bring the child before the juvenile court as required by Code Section 15_11_47.

19_10A_7.
Medical facilities and their employees, agents, and staff members shall not be liable for civil damages or subject to criminal prosecution for failure to discharge the duties provided for in this chapter. The immunity provided in this chapter shall in no way be construed as providing immunity for any acts of negligent treatment of the child taken into custody."