To The Joint Legislative Committee On Human Services & Elderly Affairs

My name is Maria Parker. I am the Associate Director of Public Policy for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the public policy office of the four Roman Catholic Dioceses in the Commonwealth.

I am speaking on behalf of the Conference in favor of House Bills 268 and 3739, to establish safe havens for abandoned infants.

These bills do not present the final and comprehensive answer to the social problems that tempt parents to abandon their young. The break-down of family values, the corrosive effect of media-generated appeals to freedom that encourage the shirking of parental duties, and the disregard for human life reflected in court decisions and social policies that permit abortion, must be addressed on their own terms. Providing for infant safe havens is at best a stop-gap measure. These bills point to the need for a more comprehensive response to the social disintegration caused by the pervasive culture of death in our Commonwealth and in our country.

Nonetheless, these bills provide a compassionate opportunity for saving the lives of children abandoned by parents who often are young, desperate, and unknowledgeable about financial and other supportive resources. If the provision of safe havens rescues the life of even one child, the effort will be entirely worthwhile and certainly worth the support of this Committee and the Legislature. The Massachusetts Catholic Conference therefore urges the Committee to recommend these bills favorably.

Sincerely,