Nebraska’s abandonment issue

“How desperate would a mother have to be,” said Linda Lowen in About.com, to drive from Detroit to Nebraska to “dump her 13-year-old son”? That's just what a woman did this week in the latest rash of cases unleashed in July, when Nebraska became the 50th state to enact a “safe haven” law. The trouble is, Nebraska's version has an “unexpected loophole” that allows children up to 19 to be abandoned, rather than just infants.

Who knew there was such “a demand for places to ditch teens”? said Jules Crittenden in Pajamas Media. Unsurprisingly, as the law draws national and international attention—and out-of-state drop-offs—“Nebraska lawmakers fear what they have wrought,” and are considering a special session to amend the law.

The law was designed, said Ed Morrissey in Hot Air, to “keep unwanted infants alive.” But despite its admirable intentions, Nebraska “has a big problem on its hands.” Like many well-meaning laws designed to “solve social problems,” this one was poorly written and is doing more harm than good.

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