This episode aired just a few months before New York State enacted the Abandoned Infant Protection Act. Its intent was to save the lives of unwanted newborns. Under the law, parent(s) could leave unwanted newborns five days of age or younger at a hospital or a police, fire, or rescue station. The child then becomes a ward of the state, and the parent(s) are automatically declared unfit and lose all legal guardianship. Under the first version of this law, a parent could potentially face criminal charges for child abandonment, especially if the child was harmed or otherwise mistreated, such as being malnourished or dehydrated. In August 2010, the law was amended to allow unwanted infants who were 30 days old or younger to be left at a "safe haven" location, which by that time had expanded to include churches, 24-hour mini-marts, and even some Walmart stores. The law was also amended to incentivize parent(s) to plan a baby's abandonment at a safe haven so that the infant would be unharmed. The new amendment states that any parent(s) who delivers their infant to a safe haven as prescribed by law cannot be held criminally liable if the child is safe, healthy, and unharmed at the time of its being left at a safe haven. The new amendments also allowed parent(s) the option of remaining anonymous when leaving a child at a safe haven location.
