Taking Advantage Of The Safe Haven Law?

Nebraska's governor is calling for a special session to revise a controversial Safe Haven law that allows a parent or guardian to abandon a child at a hospital or fire station without prosecution.

The law has prompted consequences that were not predicted.

Within the past two months, two dozen kids abandoned legally at Nebraska hospitals, five of them within the past week.

A Safe Haven law designed to protect infants also accepts children as old as 17. As a result, many being dropped off are adolescents and teenagers, some who've been brought from other states.

Protester Judi Wheeldon says "it saddens me that these kids are being left behind. I can't imagine how they're feeling."

The unexpected consequences of the law has prompted a rare special session two weeks from now when lawmakers plan to revise the legislation.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman says "this law needs to be changed to focus on its original intent, which is to protect infants."

From the governor to teenagers discussing parenting, the law has shed light on a huge problem.

Rev. Darryl Eure of Youthbuild Omaha says "what to we do when a parent is at their wits end and they don't know what to do with their son or their daughter."

Nebraska State Senator Lowen Kruse says "the system needs fixing and it's not a Nebraska problem alone, it's national."

Child advocacy groups encourage desperate parents to seek other resources.

In Nebraska, at least one door for unwanted teenagers may soon be closing.

The amended law is expected to apply to infants up to three days old.