Just a few days after a New York family found an abandoned baby in the trash, another abandoned baby has been discovered in Texas.
Police in Harris County, Texas said a local resident discovered the newborn girl in the bushes early Thursday morning outside the Cypress Creek apartments, according to the Daily Mail.
The resident told the Harris County Sheriff’s Office that he heard the baby crying and found her among the flowers and bushes; she was covered in ants and dirt, and her umbilical cord still was attached. The man said he cleaned her off and held her until authorities arrived.
Police said they found the mother, a 21-year-old living in the apartment complex, when they followed a trail of blood near the baby. The mother admitted that she had given birth to the girl about an hour earlier, though she initially denied it, according to police.
Police said the woman is in custody, and charges are being considered. Her name has not been publicly released yet.
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The newborn appears to be in good health. According to the local news, child welfare officials are placing her with a foster family.
Local resident Roger Coreas told the local news that the incident shocked him.
“There’s a hospital, not even a block down the road and if the mother was so worried about the infant’s safety she could’ve easily gone to drop off the baby,” Coreas said.
It is the second infant abandonment that LifeNews has reported about this week.
On Tuesday, sisters in Elmira, New York also found an abandoned baby in a garbage bag in their neighborhood. Police estimated that the 8-month-old girl had survived in the plastic bag for about three days before the sisters found her, Fox 59 News reports.
When authorities arrived, they took the baby to a local hospital for treatment. The Washington Post reports the baby later was transported to another hospital, but she is in stable condition.
Police also found the baby’s mother and charged her with attempted second-degree murder.
All 50 states have safe haven laws to protect babies from abandonment and infanticide. Save haven laws allow mothers in crisis to leave their newborns in a safe environment, such as a hospital or fire station, without questions or repercussions.
Between 2004 and 2011, about 50 infants in Texas were surrendered under its safe haven law, according to the Dallas Morning News. National statistics are not kept about the number of babies saved through safe haven laws.
If you or someone you know would like more information about relinquishing a newborn child, please call 1-866-99BABY1 or go to www.SafeHavenLaw.com.
