Summary

Texas has seen a spike in abandoned newborns since its abortion ban, with some infants found dead in dumpsters or ditches.

Critics link the rise to reduced access to abortion, cuts to prenatal care, underfunded safe haven programs, and fear of deportation among undocumented women.

Texas Republicans have resisted funding awareness campaigns for safe haven laws, instead allocating $165 million to crisis pregnancy centers that prioritize deterring abortion over aiding women.

The lack of support has drawn condemnation, highlighting the broader consequences of restrictive reproductive policies.

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[–] Drivebyhaiku 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Regardless of how much misery it might cause the parents to relinquish the baby in a humane way, it's still on them to do so. I'm running out of ways to say this. You all are wild.

You are talking about a group of people who are angry at the state for ruining their lives by becoming parents not as a matter of choice but under duress. Abortion having legal consequences and surrender oftentimes saddling these unwilling people with lifelong consequences due to the means of tracking and investigation available there isn't really an "out" here. So these dumpster kids to their parents at birth become incredibly personal symbols of oppression, pain, removal of autonomy and one's own life losing value. It's very difficult to ask someone to value a life when they feel their own lives have lost value. Accepting a harder but more moral path is more likely to be followed through when you feel like you have something worth losing. The discarding of life can be seen as a form of reciprocated violence by individuals who feel like they themselves were discarded.

It may even be instinctually sourced. A lot of mammals placed in a position of extreme stress will kill their young. From what we've witnessed throughout history Humans are no exception.