A Chinese city has plans to fight the epidemic of abandoned babies caused in part by the one-child policy with an anonymous baby box. The idea behind the box is to protect newborns from infanticide by having parents of so-called unwanted children leave them with someone who will find them a family.
The BBC has more on this baby box idea:
Shenzhen has apparently applied to the Guangdong provincial authorities to pilot such a facility next year. Some social media users have warned that the box will encourage “irresponsible parents” to give away their unwanted children, the People’s Daily newspaper says.
But the head of Shenzhen’s social welfare centre, Tang Rongsheng, points out that nearly 100 abandoned infants have been handed over to his centre this year. “The shelter embodies the idea of prioritising the interest of the child,” he says.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
Shenzhen is not the only Chinese city to consider such a system. Shijiazhuang apparently launched one in 2011 and has since received 170 infants. Other cities are expected to follow suit, the Jiangsu Province web portal reports. Baby boxes, common in medieval Europe, are making a comeback in countries such as Germany. But the boxes have been criticised by the UN for violating the rights of children.
The idea is reminiscent of this Korean pastor whose mission is also to save abandoned babies from infanticide.
