Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto plans to set up the country's first "baby hatch"where mothers are able to drop off new born and unwanted babies. Jikei Hospitalexplains they will begin to install the hatch as soon as they obtain permissionfrom local public health authorities and Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor. The Ministry did not necessarily admit the plan to go ahead to install suchbox but they say there is at least no laws which prohibits such conducts.
I have never heard of such a system until I read this article listed inYahoo news. I read the fact that the system seems to be functioning withoutmajor problems in one of a baby care center in Germany.
In along with the news article at Yahoo site, there is an questionnaire on thissystem asking whether you agree with it or not. I have posted the
affirmative vote without seeing the summary result so far. I was satisfied to find the result of the vote that about 60% of people were affirmative about the system.
Hospital director Shoichi Hasuda says the baby hatch “is an emergency measureand it is not aimed at encouraging parents to abandon babies.” Yes, that's it.I fully agree with this message. But while I read many other news and comments expressed from several central Government authorities later on, I found there expressed various concerns to introduce such system in this country.
One big question raised was of course, whether the system would encourage the abandonment of a baby that is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. The Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Justice Ministry declined to comment on the legality of the hospital’s plan. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor also seems to be very uncertain about it.
I understand some of those development. This is a good first concrete step to save valuable lives of abandoned babies. I do hope and believe that a number of discussion will be made on this system from various views including legal, social, humanistic, ethical and religious point of views from now on.
2007/2/24
Tadashi HAYASE
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