California Health and Safety Code 1275.7 – (a) The Legislature makes the following findings and …
(a) The Legislature makes the following findings and declarations:
(1) The theft of newborn babies from hospitals is a serious societal problem that must be addressed.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1275.7
- department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
- health facility: means a facility, place, or building that is organized, maintained, and operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, and treatment of human illness, physical or mental, including convalescence and rehabilitation and including care during and after pregnancy, or for any one or more of these purposes, for one or more persons, to which the persons are admitted for a 24-hour stay or longer, and includes the following types:
California Health and Safety Code 1250
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23
(2) There is no statutory requirement that hospitals offering maternity services establish policies and procedures that protect newborns and their parents from physical harm and emotional distress resulting from baby thefts.
(3) Societal change has popularized a more open and natural birthing process, which, unfortunately, increases the risk of thefts of newborns from hospitals and other health facilities offering maternity services.
(4) Baby thefts detrimentally affect the emotional and physical health of newborns and their families.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to take reasonable steps toward reducing baby thefts.
(b) On or before July 1, 1991, the state department shall adopt regulations requiring any hospital or other health facility offering maternity services to establish written policies and procedures designed to promote the protection of babies and the reduction of baby thefts from hospitals or other health facilities offering maternity services. Those hospitals and facilities shall establish the policies and procedures no later than 60 days after the regulations become effective.
(c) The state department shall review the policies and procedures established by the hospitals and other health facilities, as required by subdivision (b), to determine compliance with the regulations adopted by the state department, pursuant to subdivision (b).
(d) Hospitals and other health facilities offering maternity services shall periodically review their policies and procedures established pursuant to this section. The review need not occur more frequently than every two years.
(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 768, Sec. 1.)