Last month, a family heard crying in the woods outside their home in North Georgia. After calling the police, the family discovered a baby girl abandoned in a plastic bag, still alive and, miraculously, unharmed. Video of the moment officers uncovered the girl, called Baby India, circulated widely online and on news stations.
When opening the plastic bag, the officer can be heard on the footage recovered from his body cam saying, “Look at you sweetheart. I’m so sorry.” As they assess the child for injuries, the newborn, whose umbilical cord was still attached, firmly grips one of the officer’s fingers.
The scene and images of Baby India have touched the hearts of countless people. Officials shared the images of her rescue and snapshots of Baby India in the hopes of someone recognizing the girl and coming forward with information. Authorities continue to search for Baby India’s mother.
After seeing Baby India and hearing her heartbreaking story of abandonment and miraculous rescue, more than a thousand people have contacted the sheriff’s office offering to adopt the girl. A Facebook post from the Forsyth County Sherriff’s Office states, “We would like to say THANK YOU to all of the people who have called and sent messages inquiring about Baby India. We have been inundated with love from around the world and we are in absolute awe!”
The sheriff’s office added that Baby India “is doing well and is in the care of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.” She will likely be placed in an adoptive family on a list of several hundred already waiting to adopt a baby in the state of Georgia.
On the Today Show, Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman noted, “It’s amazing the number of people who are looking to take on a new life into their families and we got somebody who tried to throw one away.” Shockingly, Baby India is not the only defenseless newborn abandoned by parents who are in distress.
As many have emphasized, the crime that put Baby India in such danger was not necessary. Safe Haven Laws ensure that parents can surrender a newborn to a designated safe location, often a fire station or a hospital. The child will be cared for with no criminal charges for the biological parents and often the parents can remain anonymous. In Texas, the Safe Haven Law, known as the Baby Moses Law, allows parents to surrender a newborn at any fire station, hospital, or emergency medical services (EMS) station in the state of Texas. The child will be given immediate medical care and placed with emergency childcare in the custody of the state.
The culture of death has led many to believe that in difficult circumstances innocent and defenseless human Life can be sacrificed. Although legal elective abortion allows for this barbaric killing, once a child is born, our culture continues to be unanimous in defending the Right to Life even of the most vulnerable. For Pro-Lifers in Texas, adopting babies like India who are in need of a family is not hypothetical. Many Texas Right to Life members have adopted children and many more are ready and willing to adopt a child if they could save that child from abortion.
The massive response to Baby India’s story and the number of families around the world who have offered to adopt her speaks to the sanctity of human Life that many people still recognize, despite the efforts of the abortion industry to devalue and destroy innocent human beings.
As the search for India’s biological mother and her forever family continue, the words of Marcus Wallace offer hope. Wallace, who was abandoned in a dumpster as a newborn said of his mother:
She’s still my mother. She carried me full term. I have nothing but love for the woman. I’m very grateful that I’m able to be a loving father to my own little girl. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be alive.