Parents’ rights could be expanded under a newly introduced proposal that would allow uncertain parents to relinquish custody of their newborns who are under the age of one month old.

Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, proposed a bill amending Wisconsin’s current Safe Haven Law to allow parents to relinquish custody of their child within 30 days of birth, according to the bill.

Current law states parents, or any person designated by the parents, can anonymously give up custody of a child without fear of punishment by dropping them off at a fire station, police station, hospital or by calling 911 within 72 hours of being born.

“Wisconsin’s Safe Haven law was passed back in 2001,” Rep. Andre Jacque, R-Bellevue, said. “There have been more than 100 cases of children that have been saved by it, but there are still children who are abandoned illegally. We assessed the laws and how to solve this problem.”

Of the 49 states with Safe Haven laws, 13 currently allow unpunished custody relinquishment within 72 hours, according to Child Welfare Information Gateway’s website, while 16 states accept infants up to one month old.

Jacque stated Safe Haven organizations around the state support the extension of the window to legally drop off their infants.

The changes to Wisconsin’s Safe Haven laws would promote infant safety by allowing parents to make better decisions on whether or not to keep their children, according to state representative and bill co-sponsor Rep. Nick Milroy, D-South Range.

“I think it gives the mother more options,” Milroy said. “There are mothers who have a child and don’t know what to do with it. If they’re only given 72 hours, they might make a rash decision. They might give it up and later decide they didn’t want to. It will increase the likelihood that babies will be given a safe environment to grow up in, whether they are given up or kept.”

By giving parents more time to decide, Milroy believes they will have a better idea of whether or not they will be able to adequately raise the child. He also said the current 72 hours allotted excludes some mothers who are still in the hospital from accessing the program.

Rep. Robert Turner, D-Racine, who also co-sponsored the bill, believes allowing custody relinquishment within 30 days would reduce unlawful infant abandonment.

“Seventy-two hours is not enough time to make the right decision,” Turner said. “If we give mothers more time to drop children off legally, they won’t abandon them in places they shouldn’t.”

Thus far, the bill has received broad support from both parties. According to Milroy, the bill has been co-sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats.

Jacque, Milroy and Turner all agree the bill is mostly non-controversial and will promote newborn safety if passed. They all expect the bill to receive continued bipartisan support.

The bill is currently awaiting a hearing in front of the Committee on Children and Families, but Jacque is optimistic it will be passed onto the Assembly floor.

“Hopefully, we can move it along fairly quickly and get a vote on it within the first two months of the year,” he said.