STAND. COM. REP. NO.1132

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 133

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 133, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Provide immunity from prosecution for leaving an unharmed newborn at a hospital within thirty days of birth; and

(2) Provide immunity from liability for the hospital and any health care provider working at the hospital for receiving a newborn.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; the Honolulu Police Department; and two concerned citizens. Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services; the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu; and the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that a 1998 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that 105 babies were abandoned in public places nationwide; of those, thirty-three babies were found deceased. The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii testified that it had conducted an unofficial check with hospitals, all of which were unable to report any documented cases of child abandonment. Although reported cases of child abandonment have been rare in Hawaii, your Committee believes that this measure is an attempt to be proactive in addressing an issue that has become a problem on the national level.

Your Committee further finds that a thirty-day period is too long a period of time to allow an infant to be left in a safe place without fear of prosecution. Your Committee heard concerns relating to the potential complications that could arise due to mother-infant bonding or abuse or neglect of the infant which could occur during that time.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by changing the time period within which an infant may be left in a safe place without fear of prosecution from thirty days to seventy-two hours to facilitate further discussion on this issue.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 133, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 133, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair