Nebraska remains the only state to allow parents legally to abandon teens at hospitals.  The number of abandoned children has almost tripled to about a three a week as Nebraska legislators rush to change the law.

All states permit parents to leave newborns at safe places.  These “safe haven” or “Baby Moses” laws prevent parents from abandoning their babies in dumpsters or doorsteps.

When Nebraska passed its safe haven law last July, legislators could not agree on an age limit for abandoned children.  So they passed a law that applied to “children” of any age.

Since then, more than half of the 31 children legally abandoned have been teenagers.  On Thursday, authorities searched for a 14 year old boy and a 17 year old girl who ran from an Omaha hospital where they had been abandoned by their mother.

A deeper question would address the social and economic pressures that lead parents to abandon their children in the first place.

Kansas permits babies legally to be relinquished up to 45 days after birth.  Missouri allows safe haven up to one year.  Restrictions apply, including who may abandon, where the children may be left, and other conditions.