Yes. This law was passed in 2001, to hopefully save the lives of abandoned newborn babies. It allows mothers to anonymously drop off their newborn baby without fear of criminal prosecution IF (1) the baby is unharmed, (2) is no more than 72 hours old, and (3) is brought to a designated drop off site. Certain places (hospitals, clinics, fire stations, churches, adoption agencies) are allowed to be drop off sites and they must identify themselves with a sign. An adoption process will proceed without the birth parents involvement.

A single woman does not need the consent of the father unless he has established paternity and becomes a legal parent. Any legal parent, including a husband of the mother, must consent to the adoption. The only way an adoption can happen without consent of both legal parents is to have “grounds” for the court to terminate the parent’s rights involuntarily. Grounds include, but are not limited to: abandonment for at least 6 months of the child’s life, abuse or neglect of the child. If there are no grounds to terminate and the father does not allow the adoption, the mother will not be able to place the baby for adoption. If the father wants to gain full custody of the baby, the mother needs to be in agreement or he will have to convince the court that she is ‘unfit.’