At least 18 babies have been abandoned in Texas this year, more than double the number of infants that were deserted a decade ago across the state.
The epidemic is thought to be linked to abortion restrictions enacted in 2021, according to The Washington Post, and compounded with difficult access to prenatal care. Texas has the highest percentage of women without health insurance in the U.S., the outlet reported.
In Houston, police have managed to identify a parent in four of the six abandoned baby cases in the city this year. One only person, Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, an 18-year-old woman from Guatemala, had been charged with felony child abandonment as of mid-December.
The woman claimed her knowledge of sex education was limited and said a relative raped her. She only realized she was pregnant seven months after the alleged incident. The relative denied wrongdoing in an interview with The Post.
Parking lot security footage caught the migrant teen on camera giving birth to the baby and then discarding it in a dumpster, prosecutors said. She feared going to a clinic due to stories she’d heard of officials instigating deportation proceedings against migrants.
She said she did not know what she would do with the baby once she went into labor and when the child was born. She was unaware of the state’s safe haven law, which allows parents to give up unharmed newborns up to 60 days old at designated locations without fear of prosecution.
The newspaper found that a majority of the parents who chose to leave their children were facing desperate circumstances.
Despite the increase in cases, state lawmakers have not dedicated funds toward raising awareness to prevent babies from being abandoned.
They did, however, put aside $165 million this fiscal year to programs that offer alternatives to abortion like crisis pregnancy centers. The centers have been accused of deceiving vulnerable young women seeking help to instead urge them to give birth whether or not they want to, are capable of raising a child or can afford to.
Other states have allocated thousands of dollars for awareness campaigns and hotlines to stop child abandonment.
Texas passed a law last year allowing for the installation of Safe Haven Baby Boxes. The boxes are installed in the exterior walls of fire stations. It costs about $20,000 to get one of the boxes installed, which are climate-controlled and have padded drawers. A silent alarm alerts first responders if a baby is placed in the box.
It’s too early to tell how effective the boxes will be statewide. One day after one was installed in Lubbock, Texas, a child was found in a city dumpster.
