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House passes bill allowing optional infant safety devices ("baby boxes") after Sioux Falls case
Summary
Lawmakers approved House Bill 1044 to authorize voluntary, privately funded newborn safety devices (often called baby surrender boxes) as an optional, non‑state funded surrender method under South Dakota law. The measure was presented as an addition to existing Safe Haven options following the death of an infant found in Sioux Falls.
House Bill 1044, known on the floor as the “baby Gabriel bill,” passed final passage on the House floor after sponsors described community events in Sioux Falls and cited constituent contacts from new mothers seeking anonymous surrender options. Representative Soy, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the bill does not change existing Safe Haven law or create state funding but allows private entities to…
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