Nebraska's open arms drew troubles

OMAHA, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Nebraska's unique safehaven law devised to care for unwanted infants became, as written, an unwanted open invitation for all problem children, officials say.

Lawmakers did something about the growing problem by amending the law Friday in special session. On a 43-5 vote, the law would apply only to people dropping off infants up to 30 days old, as originally intended.

For a time, Nebraska was the one place in the country with a law whose wording allowed parents to abandon children up to age 18 years without consequences. Since September, 35 children have been abandoned, almost all of them 11 or older.

Melyssa Cowburn's 5-year-old son offers an example of what Nebraska officials faced in answering the need, the Los Angeles Times said. The Seattle boy allegedly drove his parents to distraction and his mother to a suicide attempt, by doing such things as hitting a baby with a hammer and setting fire to the shower curtain.

The Cowburns had tried unsuccessfully to get their insurance company to pay for mental health treatment for the boy. Finally, she told the Times, she flew her son to Nebraska last week and tearfully left him there.