More on Safe Haven (from Oprah’s show)

I’ve had a lot of people reading this site for safe haven laws. I’ve done a little research and wanted to add a link for those interested in their own states. Check out this link for more details on your own safe haven law. Also, please pass on the information if you know people who can benefit from this information. Babies are a gift and we need to remember that and help those who struggle.

Safe Haven Laws

I have TiVo so I’m usually behind watching shows that I enjoy. I watched the Oprah from Friday this weekend. I was a little leery to watch it since the topic is tough to deal with. I listen to the young girl tell her story of her pregnancy at fifteen and then how she killed her son. I was emotional through it and wondered the first part about why Oprah had done such a story. Oprah always (or almost always) has an important message that needs to be relayed to the public.

Safe Haven Laws was her message this show. I find this to be extremely important. If you do not know about the safe haven law then here’s a quick recap. If there is an unwanted pregnancy then the all the mom needs to do is drop the newborn off at a hospital, fire station, or police station shortly after birth. No questions will be asked, other than medical I’m understood, and the mom will not even have to give her name and no charges will be filed. Forty seven states have such an adapted law (Nebraska, Hawaii, and Alaska do not) and the word needs to be spread.

After this message was shared, Oprah shared a personal story and then gave Jessica (the young woman) something that I think we can all learn from – young and old alike. Oprah’s message was this:

What you have done is the past, and you alone get to determine what your future will be.

As a parent, I think it is important to teach my children responsibility, how to talk to us, and how to be smart adults who can think for themselves. I want to them to understand that I love them unconditionally and there is nothing they could do to ever change that. We all make mistakes as humans and we all possess the ability to forgive. That forgiveness is important and I have come to believe that the harder it is to forgive the more one should. I hope that I take this message of the ability to change and move on while learning from mistakes and teach it to my kids. I think it is one of many important lessons they will need as life sends many challenges to all.

Lucky to be an American Mom

I watched an Oprah last week that was eye opening. She did a show on Mom’s around the world. If anyone saw it, I thought it was a great show. She covered several moms whose lives I would not like to lead. One mom in India had to send her children away to live with grandparents because she works through the night. What a life!

Another mom – a mom to 10 I might add – works as a courrier. She carries loads for people from the town near where she lives up and down hills each and every day for the mere payment of what is close to a quarter and sometimes fifty cents. I can’t imagine having to do what she does every day only to return home to cook dinner and care for 10.

I mention this show because this week has been rough. I’ve been very sick and so have two of my three kids. My husband has had to stay home some and help me out. Sometimes, I think that we might forget how lucky our lives as Americans are until we are given the chance to be reminded of what other moms in other countries endure. Even when we have a rough week, as I have, we should always remember that we are lucky compared to some.