Indiana Gov. Mike Braun speaks at a twenty fifth anniversary celebration of the secure haven new child give up legislation on the Indiana Statehouse on Nov. 18, 2025. (Photograph by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Hoosier leaders gathered Tuesday on the Statehouse to hail the twenty fifth anniversary of a secure haven legislation that encourages dad and mom to give up infants slightly than abandon them.
It “has protected essentially the most susceptible amongst us and given hope to others in disaster for 1 / 4 of a century,” mentioned Linda Znachko, founding father of He Is aware of Your Identify. The ministry buries “unclaimed” youngsters — together with aborted and miscarried infants — and adults.
The legislation was accredited in 2000, after an toddler was discovered useless outdoors a hospital emergency room.
Linda Znachko, founding father of He Is aware of Your Identify, speaks at a twenty fifth anniversary celebration of the secure haven new child give up legislation on the Indiana Statehouse on Nov. 18, 2025. (Photograph by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Think about “a mom gently laying her child down, scared to go within the hospital,” Znachko mentioned. She “left her child, I’m positive, hoping that somebody would discover that baby. And sadly, nobody did till it was too late.”
The legislation permits the give up of unhurt infants, with out authorized penalties, to emergency medical companies suppliers like hospitals and volunteer hearth departments. The handoffs may be in particular person, or via new child security gadgets higher often called child packing containers.
Thirty-one have been surrendered in Indiana since 2017, a He Is aware of Your Identify spokesperson mentioned.
“These packing containers are greater than plastic and expertise. They’re mercy made tangible,” mentioned Secure Haven Child Field Founder Monica Kelsey.
Indiana went 11 years with out discovering lifeless, deserted infants, in accordance with Znachko.
“I really thought that’s what we had been going to be celebrating right here right this moment,” she mentioned. However “every thing modified” when a deceased new child was found at an Indianapolis park in September.
“On this twenty fifth anniversary celebration, I would love us all to recommit ourselves to … taking over this trigger over again,” Znachko mentioned. “… We can’t permit girls in disaster to stay under-resourced, under-educated of their most determined hour.”
She welcomed Indiana’s high leaders to the stage, arrange toes away from a pro-redistricting gathering.
“We’re setting the development on this nation, throughout the gamut, that we honor the sanctity of life,” Gov. Mike Braun mentioned. “And I believe you’ll be able to depend on all of us, as legislators and as your governor: we gained’t allow you to down on that essential challenge.”
He, like Senate President Professional Tem Rodric Bray, took the chance to shore up his “pro-life” credentials. Each lauded the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of the fitting to an abortion in 2022, noting Indiana was the primary state to reply with a near-total ban on abortions.
“It is a good legislation and a great device to guard newborns and ensure girls have a pro-life possibility accessible to them always,” mentioned Bray, who leads the Senate’s GOP supermajority.
Senate President Professional Tem Rodric Bray provides remarks on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, on the Indiana Statehouse. (Photograph by Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
He mentioned the state ought to educate Hoosiers concerning the legislation and add extra give up places.
“We’re making a tradition in Indiana that places harmless lives first,” mentioned Home Speaker Todd Huston, chief of that chamber’s Republican supermajority. “… Indiana has put in extra child packing containers than another state within the nation.”
Brandi Koie, one of many first to undertake a child below the legislation, mentioned it’s a “win for all of us.”
“When it’s correctly utilized, delivery moms who aren’t but prepared or outfitted to mum or dad, they get second probabilities at life. That’s a win,” Koie mentioned. “Infants who’re born right into a disaster scenario, they’re saved … That’s a win. Ready arms turn into crammed in the end.”
She spoke on to these delivery moms.
“I need to say: thanks. You might be so courageous. You might be so liked. You might be so appreciated,” Koie mentioned. “I would like you to know that my daughter has grown up understanding that her delivery mom liked her first, and that she did so sacrificially.”
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX