Family Life

05.27.11 | Sarah Harnisch

There's a bill in the works in New York that would change high school curriculum to teach teen girls what to do with their newborn babies. The bill would require edits of high school health curriculums across the state-- teaching girls about "safe haven laws"-- laws that allow you to abandon your newborn without consequence, as long as they are brought to a hospital, police station, or fire station that is staffed. Two moms-- ages 18 and 23-- were charged recently in New York City for abandoning their babies, and state lawmakers say if they had been taught what to do in high school, both children would have lived. They say it will teach teen moms what to do with babies they do not want. But those against the bill say it's just another uncomfortable form of sex ed for a majority of kids that, for the most part, will likely never be pregnant in high school.