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Committee advances bill to expand Utah safe‑relinquishment period from 30 to 90 days and fund outreach
Summary
A substitute to SB 57 that would change Utah’s newborn safe‑relinquishment window from 30 to 90 days and provide funding for public education passed the Human Services Standing Committee after testimony from the law’s original sponsor and beneficiaries who credited the law with saving lives.
Senator Hinkins told the Human Services Standing Committee that SB 57’s first substitute would expand Utah’s newborn safe‑relinquishment period from 30 days to 90 days and provide funding to expand outreach and education about the program.
Patrice Arent, former state senator and chair of the Newborn Safe Haven advisory board, described the statute and urged the panel to fund outreach. “This is an alternative to abortion. This is the third option,” Arent said, explaining the law allows birth parents to leave a newborn at a hospital anonymously and have child‑welfare agencies place the child in a safe home.
Arent and other…
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