# Teens can be legally dumped at Nebraska Hospitals **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 28, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604 "2008-09-28T19:24:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/1 "2008-09-28T19:24:53Z")
Is your teenager not cleaning up his room? Sassing his mama? Not doing well in school? Well now Nebraska has a solution. Drive them to the nearest hospital and they become someone elses problem. > [@](#): > > The (Nebraska) law, which went into effect in July, allows caregivers to abandon children at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution. It was initially intended to protect infants - like similar laws in other states - but was amended to include children and teenagers. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/25/national/main4477585.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/25/national/main4477585.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/2 "2008-09-28T19:26:41Z")
If she’s a teen pregnant mom, she can be both dumper and dumpee. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/3 "2008-09-28T19:31:55Z")
Did you mean to post an actual question, or is this in the wrong forum? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/4 "2008-09-28T19:40:20Z")
Moved from General Questions to The BBQ Pit as requested by the OP. **Gfactor** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/5 "2008-09-28T19:49:09Z")
There is a Great Debates [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=484667) on the same subject. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/6 "2008-09-28T19:55:48Z")
What about 9-year-olds? Can you dump your disruptive 9-year-old, especially when they keep crickets in their pockets for you to find, shrieking, while doing laundry? ::calculates cost of gas to Nebraska:: ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/7 "2008-09-28T19:59:48Z")
The governor has called for changes to the law. I guess they weren’t expecting quite so many non-infants to be abandoned. Oops! ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/8 "2008-09-28T20:07:30Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > Moved from General Questions to The BBQ Pit as requested by the OP. > > **Gfactor** > General Questions Moderator Typical GQ mod. Don’t want to deal with a thread, so you abandon it in the Pit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/9 "2008-09-28T20:31:46Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Typical GQ mod. Don’t want to deal with a thread, so you abandon it in the Pit. 😉 Nah, he moved it cause I asked him to. Did not realize my browser was pointed at GQ when I pulled the trigger. Back to the OP, as a threat, it beats a visit from the bogeyman to get a young’un moving. “If you don’t bring the car back full of gas, you’re next trip will be to the hospital.” Hmm, that could have several meanings. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/10 "2008-09-28T21:40:57Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > The governor has called for changes to the law. > I guess they weren’t expecting quite so many non-infants to be abandoned. Oops! Have there actually been any non-infants abandoned under this law? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/11 "2008-09-28T21:47:09Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Have there actually been any non-infants abandoned under this law? Yes- just the other day a man took nine of his kids to a Nebraska hospital and handed them over, among others. [http://www.ketv.com/cnn-news/17553170/detail.html](http://www.ketv.com/cnn-news/17553170/detail.html) ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/12 "2008-09-28T22:02:02Z")
You need the rest of the story on that man: > [@](#): > > The mother of nine kids left at an emergency room in Creighton University Medical Center died from a brain aneurysm 17 months ago, days after delivering the youngest child, said the father. > > Gary Staton dropped off his kids Wednesday night at 8 p.m., officials at the Department of Health and Human Services said. > > “I was with her for 17 years, and then she was gone. What was I going to do?” Staton said. “We raised them together. I didn’t think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn’t take care of them.” Clearly he needs help. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/13 "2008-09-28T22:04:45Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > You need the rest of the story on that man: Oh, I wasn’t making any judgement on him- surely there’s some huge issues to be dealt with. Just saying that yes, this has been happening, this case being probably the most extreme. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/14 "2008-09-28T22:27:32Z")
I have no problem with this. Most parents have no business raising children anyway, _especially_ ones who would abandon them like this. It’s a shame the damage has already been done to the children by allowing their parents to spawn haphazardly – but it’s a start. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/15 "2008-09-28T23:01:06Z")
It’s way better than the kids living neglected. I knew this case would end up on the board. I read about a hospital that installed one of those door deals like at banks that people could put a baby in outside, and the staff would open up the inside door to receive the kid. Their intent is no baby left somewhere to die, because the mom wants nobody to see her. I see with a search it’s a world wide trend to have baby drop boxes or baby drop cradles at hospitals. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/16 "2008-09-29T00:54:09Z")
The kind of parent who would dump his/her child is the kind who would do something worse if this mechanism was not in place. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/17 "2008-09-29T02:39:00Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The kind of parent who would dump his/her child is the kind who would do something worse if this mechanism was not in place. Damn straight. And seriously, why\* shouldn’\*t there be a mechanism in place so that parents that really, really aren’t able to look after their kids can make that decision without having to get to the point where the family environment is actively dangerous to the kids first? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/18 "2008-09-29T04:05:43Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Oh, I wasn’t making any judgement on him Well, I’ll make a judgement on the guy. These kids lost their mom, and now their dad is abandoning him too. Fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/19 "2008-09-29T04:15:48Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The kind of parent who would dump his/her child is the kind who would do something worse if this mechanism was not in place. What she/he said. I don’t see any loving, responsible, able parent abandoning their child, however attractive the prospect might seem at times. Some people have no business raising children. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604/20 "2008-09-29T04:16:17Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, I’ll make a judgement on the guy. These kids lost their mom, and now their dad is abandoning him too. Fuck him. And make the motherfucker pay fucking child support. To be clear I think mechanisms should be in place to help kids, but for fuck sake to have nine kids then pawn them off on the state. Buy some fucking condoms for christ sake. This idiot needs a license to drive a car but nobody blinks when he fathers nine kids? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teens-can-be-legally-dumped-at-nebraska-hospitals/465604.md?page=2)