Baby boxes have become the centre of national debate, with government proposing to ban them while welfare groups insist they save lives. Readers weigh in on the topic.

Lee-Anne Smith – Baby savers save lives and there should be more of them placed around the country to prevent babies being left in pit toilets and dustbins.

Sandy Immelman – Not only should they be kept open – there should be lots and lots of them to save little lives all over the country!

Sompu Lwing – What easily accessible alternative does the Government have?

Charmaine Lochan – Honestly, the government shouldn’t even think about banning baby boxes. They save innocent lives when mothers have no other options. Instead of wasting time on this, the government should focus on fixing the real problems poverty lack of jobs, no support for single mothers, and poor access to mental health care. Our government talks about protecting lives, but where are the real solutions? Baby boxes exist because the system keeps failing people.

Lisa Fittkau Adendorff – Definitely not! But I think we should do something like the states where the mother takes a special bag which will have inside it a reference number for her baby and she has a certain time to come get her baby if she changes her mind or circumstances change. She will still remain anonymous if she chooses.

Megan Cowie Metcalf – Baby savers save lives and we must continue to offer them while also working to reduce the need for them by investing in programmes that prevent teen pregnancies and support women facing unplanned pregnancies.

Asha Dhanjee Naidoo – We actually need more boxes. Safe abandonment is a lifeline for the child. It’s anonymous and a safe alternative. What is the government doing about better health care, unplanned pregnancy education and about teen pregnancies.

Becks Wang – Safe abandonment (through boxes) is a lifeline for mothers and babies alike. They should definitely not be closed.

Project Life SA – Over 515 babies have been saved through baby savers in South Africa, and for every three babies found [abandonded and not placed in baby savers], two are found dead! Baby Savers save lives by providing an anonymous and safe alternative to unsafe abandonment. Legalise baby savers!

Helderberg Baby Saver – Baby Savers save little lives – the most vulnerable in our society. Those babies who are left in unsafe places (bins, fields, toilets) very often do not survive, and those that do are often severely traumatised (bitten by rats, starving, freezing or cooking in the sun for hours before being found). Why would our government want to criminalise this safe relinquishment option that gives desperate girls/women a last resort to save a baby they cannot care for?

Jaco Pretorius – Out of respect for the audience, I’ll mind my language but what alternative do the self-entitled government officials have? What do they have in place?

Selena Sewkarran – More baby boxes simply encourages more sex without remorse or recourse. What kind of people will encourage others to have babies, simply to abandon them. What are they doing to the babies? Are the babies being sold (charging a fee to adopt is the same as selling)? Are these babies given ample motherly love, respect and care? There are way more cons than pros in this equation. Encouraging more baby boxes doesn’t make you more of a saint, it makes you a sinful abettor. You are equally responsible for any negative impact on an abandoned child’s life! Stop encouraging women to discard their babies. Stop increasing sin in this world, there is enough sin as it is!

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