Law giving Safe Haven for babies hurt by lack of publicity

When Meg Samek-Smith learned an Arnold teen delivered a baby at home last week and then apparently placed the boy in a trash can outside the house, she hung her head in sadness.

Three years ago, as the chair of the Junior League of Annapolis' Public Advocacy committee, Mrs. Samek-Smith led a campaign to promote "Safe Haven" legislation that should have been a way for the 17-year-old mother of that child to give him away, no questions asked, without fear of prosecution.

No one has been charged with the baby's death. Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine if the child was stillborn or if it died as a result...