With the days ticking down to October, national Respect Life Month, Arlington parishioners are invited to attend the annual diocesan Respect Life Conference.
This year’s conference will be Sept. 7 at St. Ambrose Church in Annandale 9 a.m.-noon. The conference is free, but registration is required.
Amy McInerny, diocesan respect life director, said the day will feature speaker Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, and update pro-lifers on the diocese’s baby box initiative.
Under Virginia’s “Safe Haven” law, a parent may surrender an unharmed infant to a first responder without any questions within 30 days after birth. But McInerny said that some mothers, especially those who are underage, trafficked or too frightened to meet face-to-face with a first responder feel that they are unable to surrender their infant.
That’s why the Safe Haven Baby Box was created, McInerny said. The baby box is attached to a fire department and allows mothers to surrender an infant anonymously. The baby box is accessed through a small door in the wall of the firehouse. The mother can place the infant inside the opening into a small bassinet. A silent sensor notifies first responders that a baby has been placed in the box, and they immediately retrieve the baby. The boxes are staffed 24/7 and are designed to prevent unsafe abandonment of infants.
While McInerny said she had heard about baby boxes elsewhere in the country, it was a local tragedy that “lit a fire under me,” to begin the Northern Virginia Baby Box Initiative.
Leesburg Police announced March 12 an investigation into the death of a preterm baby discovered in a pond in Leesburg. In a statement, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge informed the diocese that he had told Loudoun County authorities that the diocese would be “willing to assist with the proper burial and committal of the remains.”
“I urge the faithful of the diocese and all people of good will to join me in prayer for the child’s mother and for anyone involved in this incident,” he wrote in the statement.
Since then, McInerny has worked to raise funds for a Safe Haven Baby Box in the diocese. It costs approximately $20,000 to build, ship, install and alarm each baby box, she said. But once installed, the baby box will become “part of that safety net that we have for women if they’ve fallen through every resource.”
“We’re already asking people to join us in prayer,” McInerny said, “and would like to ask them to give their time Sept. 7 to come to the diocesan conference.”
Harvey can be reached at [email protected] or X @annaharveyACH.
Find out more
RSVP for the Respect Life Conference at bit.ly/3WQa0yg.
To donate, go to bit.ly/3MjYgPy.
