JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate passed a bill that would allow parents to surrender infants in safety devices, or “baby boxes.”

The measure passed 18-2 on March 31, with supporters saying the bill could save lives while critics say it would leave adoptees without knowledge of their background, among other concerns.

As of 2008, under Alaska law, a parent is able to turn over an infant under 21 days old to a doctor, nurse, firefighter or peace officer without being prosecuted.

The bill — introduced by Republican Sen. Robert Myers of North Pole — would also allow for a parent to surrender an infant into a baby box, installed at facilities like fire departments and hospitals, without being prosecuted.

Since 2013, three Alaska infants have been abandoned, according to Myers. One in Fairbanks was found alive in 2021, despite subzero temperatures. One in Eagle River died in 2013, and another in Anchorage died in 2024, about a block from a fire station.

The idea behind the boxes is that they allow for anonymity, as shame and fear can be barriers to surrendering a baby directly to a person, Myers said.

Manufacturers design the devices to be installed into the exterior wall of a facility. The boxes are temperature-controlled and have a livestream camera on the inside. When a baby is closed inside, the outside door automatically locks. Opening the boxes also triggers an alarm — with a slight delay to allow for the parent to leave anonymously — after which a responder can retrieve the baby from an inside door.

Adoptee advocacy groups from the Lower 48 opposed the devices in written testimony about the bill, saying they are a “gimmick” solution to the broader societal issues that lead to a person surrendering an infant. Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now and Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization wrote that the devices represent relinquishment practices that are “rooted in shame and secrecy,” and “create a population of adopted people who have no birth records, identity, or history.”

Sen. Löki Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat, cast one of two no votes on the bill in the Senate. The other no vote was from Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, who declined to comment on why he voted no.

Tobin said that although she agrees with the underlying premise, she cited a series of concerns about the boxes, including that a lack of person-to-person interaction takes away informed consent and could lead to increased coercion in the surrender of infants, and that could leave the non-surrendering parent without a say.

When an infant is surrendered to a nurse, for example, that nurse must advise the parent that they may, but are not required to, provide the infant’s or parents’ names and medical history.

After an infant is surrendered, the child goes to the custody of the state Office of Children’s Services.

Infants are then placed in OCS custody, which conducts a “diligent search” for relatives, including contacting tribal and community partners, according to the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services.

That process would still apply to a baby surrendered in a baby box, said Carla Erickson, chief assistant attorney general for child protection in the state Department of Law, at a committee meeting in February 2025.

Erickson said that in her experience, OCS had never begun a case where the child’s surrender was completely anonymous.

During the Senate floor debate ahead of the vote on March 31, Tobin said the boxes could leave OCS guessing whether the infant is a tribal member. That, Tobin said, could open up the possibility of violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which requires the state to try to place Native children up for adoption within their tribe.

“It is our responsibility to pass law rooted in sound public policy supported by evidence. Baby boxes are not that,” Tobin said.

Myers responded saying that the same documents used to request health and family information at in-person surrenders would be available in the baby boxes.

He also said questions of identity are secondary to ensuring the child is safe.

“It’s tough to find out what your heritage is when you’re not alive,” Myers said.

Safe Haven Baby Box Inc., the primary infant surrender device manufacturer in the U.S., has contracted installation for over 400 baby boxes across the Lower 48, according to its website. Time magazine reported last year that about 62 babies had been left in boxes since the nonprofit’s founding in 2016, according to its founder, Monica Kelsey.

The bill does not require the state to install or pay for baby boxes, so installation would come at the expense of facilities themselves.

The state Department of Public Safety estimates that each box would cost $16,000, excluding installation. A Fairbanks City Council member said at a February 2025 committee hearing that he estimates a baby box would cost about $22,000 for his community.

Doug Schrage, fire chief at the Anchorage Fire Department, said at the same hearing that members of AFD have consulted with Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc. and led fundraising efforts to raise enough for a baby box in Anchorage.

Christian and anti-abortion organizations have also said they plan to fundraise to install the boxes, as well.

Pamela Samash of Nenana, and a member of Interior Right to Life, said at a committee meeting for the bill last session that the organization is “just waiting” to do a fundraiser for this cause.

The bill now heads to the House for committee hearings.