SAN ANTONIO – The decision can be nearly impossible to make: What should a mother or father do with a newborn they can’t or don’t want to care for?
John Courage, San Antonio’s District 9 councilman, said this was the reason why he pushed for the City of San Antonio to get Safe Haven baby boxes in 2023.
“Are you going to walk into a public facility and hand over a newborn infant and say, you know, ‘I don’t want my child anymore?‘” Courage said. “And we recognized that that was kind of a barrier.”
The boxes are an extension of the state’s Baby Moses law that allows parents to legally and safely surrender a newborn who is:
- 60 days or younger
- Unharmed
The infant must be taken to a designated safe place, such as a hospital or fire station.
In January 2025, KSAT Investigates learned a newborn baby boy with his umbilical cord still attached was turned in to San Antonio police and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Initially, a man claimed to have found the baby on a sidewalk near downtown San Antonio in the freezing cold. Police said he changed his story and admitted he knew who the newborn’s mother was.
Court records show SAPD arrested the baby’s mother, 28-year-old Ava Marie Guerra, and charged her with injury to a child and reckless serious bodily injury. She posted a $150,000 bond.
Guerra told police she knew she was pregnant for about two months and did not see any prenatal care. According to the affidavit, she did not want to keep the baby or know anything about him.
“I would like for every woman who is facing that kind of a decision to have an option to do it anonymously, so that the child is protected and the woman feels safe in being able to do that,” said Courage.
In the fiscal year 2024 budget, city council approved $438,000 to buy and install a dozen baby boxes at fire stations.
“What happened to that money?” KSAT asked Courage.
“Well, it is sitting available,” responded Courage. “So, it’s there. It was budgeted. It just hadn’t been spent.”
“What’s the holdup?” KSAT asked.
“It was a process of looking to try and find the right ones,” said Courage. “I have to say, I’ve not been happy with the amount of time it’s taken.”
Courage said that the former San Antonio fire chief said some of the fire stations needed to be redone because some of them were too old to support a baby box.
KSAT Investigates reached out to the San Antonio Fire Department for an interview. SAFD did not make anyone available for this story.
In an email, SAFD spokesperson Joe Arrington told KSAT that the city is “moving forward with the procurement of baby boxes and is conducting due diligence before selecting a vendor.”
KSAT asked Courage what he would say to people frustrated with the delay.
“Just say, ‘I’m sorry,‘” Courage said. “It does take this long, and I wish that we had been able to do it quicker, but I think anything that’s going to be of a big benefit is worth waiting for.”
The councilman said he and other city leaders will head to North Texas next week to see the baby boxes in action.
In Texas, there are currently five boxes, according to Safe Haven.
Courage, whose term ends in May 2025, hopes the city will install at least two or three of the baby boxes later this year.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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