VOA慢速英语--How Do You Save Unwanted Babies?

How Do You Save Unwanted Babies?

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

On a cold December day in 2014, the body of a newborn baby girl was recovered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The body was found off a snowy path in a public park.

A medical examiner later ruled that the girl was born healthy. She died, Fox News reported, from being left in the cold and from animal bites to her arms and legs.

The girl now has a name -- Amelia Grace Hope. Linda Znachko named the baby. She is with Safe Haven¹, a religious organization that buries abandoned children.

Znachko believes Amelia Grace did not have to die. She says that the mother could have felt she had no other choice.

"And it was really just two miles away from a fire station. And you know, if that mother -- maybe an under-resourced, desperate mom who was terribly afraid -- would have been able to just find her way just two miles down the road, she may have been able to surrender that baby, and the baby could be alive today."

That is because there was a safe place not far from where Amelia Grace was found.

Since 2008, legal guardians² throughout the United States may surrender babies 45 days or younger to any emergency medical service provider. They can do this without fear of being charged with a crime. Yet, across the country, about 150 babies each year are left in waterways, along roadsides, and in waste cans.

Many, many years ago, a woman named Monica Kelsey was abandoned as a baby. Now, Kelsey works as a firefighter. She said she felt she had to do something. She found the answer while visiting a church in South Africa, which had a baby safe.

"It was for mothers who didn't want to be identified ..."

Keeping the mother’s name private has led to safe child surrenders in many countries, including South Korea, China and Canada. It did not take long for Kelsey to launch Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the U.S.

The baby boxes are made of metal, but have soft padding on the inside. Each has a climate-controlled thermostat³. This device changes the temperature inside the box, based on the weather conditions outside.

When a baby is placed in the box, it activates⁴ an infrared⁵ light and series of silent alarms. These alarms notify emergency personnel within a minute.

Monica Kelsey met Linda Znacho because of the case of baby Amelia. Together the women worked to try to persuade Indiana’s state legislature to change the Safe Haven law. They wanted to protect people who use the boxes and those dropping off babies in person.

The Indiana Department of Health opposed the plan. In a report to the legislature, it warned against using a system with no policies to protect the newborn left inside the box.

Znachko disputed the department’s warning. She explained what really happens when an abandoned baby dies.

"I offered them the reality that I've seen the autopsy⁶ results that are written about the conditions of these babies when they are found. It's so tragic⁷. It's so hard to read. That even if a baby were to die in the baby box, it would be an attempted rescue on their life."

Safe Haven Baby Boxes made its program stronger by adding an automatic lock to the outside of the boxes. This ensures that only emergency personnel could remove the newborns from the interior door. The legislature unanimously amended⁸ the law.

Monica Kelsey’s husband, Joe, is the mayor of Woodburn, Indiana. He approved a plan for setting up the first baby box at the local fire station.

"I'm very proud that Woodburn is the first city to have Safe Haven Baby Boxes and if one life is saved during the whole term that I'm mayor, it will be the best thing."

Each box costs about $2,000. A civic⁹ organization, the Knights¹⁰ of Columbus, paid for the first 100 boxes.

Kelsey gets emails every day from people asking for a box in their hometown. The next three locations have already been chosen. They are in high abandonment areas in Indiana.

"Our goal is 10 percent of these babies that are being abandoned [will be left in the boxes]. That's where we're going to start. I think through the years, though, that number is going to grow. And eventually, hopefully save 100 percent of the babies that are being illegally abandoned."

The baby boxes came too late to save Amelia Grace Hope, but she left her mark in her own small way. Her footprint is used in signs for the program.

Words in This Story

abandon – v. to give up with the intent of never again claiming a right or interest in

under-resourced – adj. provided with insufficient¹¹ resources.

desperate – adj. giving little reason to hope

climate-controlled thermostat -- n. a device that keeps the temperature average, not too warm and not too cold

tragic – adj. causing strong feelings of sadness usually because someone has died in a way that seems very shocking, unfair, etc.

unanimously – adv. agreed to by everyone

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

3 thermostat   

n.恒温器

参考例句：

• The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
• The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器，准确性高。

4 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。

5 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

6 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

9 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

10 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

11 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。