It was a cold night when Molly, an infant left outside St. Andrews Hospital, was discovered in a duffle bag, wrapped in a blanket with a Teddy bear on her chest.

Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, was working as a nurse in obstetrics at the time and recalled seeing that duffle bag sitting on a gurney in the emergency room.

"The room was still, the police didn't move, doctors didn't, nurses didn't. No one wanted to open the duffle bag, because I think they knew who, or what, might be inside."

Molly had not survived.

Preventable deaths like hers are what Safe Haven Baby Boxes aim to eliminate in Kentucky and beyond.

"But one thing that's always stayed with me–and as we talk about Safe Haven laws and we talk about Safe Haven Baby Boxes–is that her mother loved her," Wuchner said outside the Kentucky Right to Life booth at the state fair on Thursday. "Her mother was in some kind of crisis. She knew it wasn't going to be the best choice for her to keep her baby girl."

Safe Haven boxes are climate-controlled, electronically monitored devices installed in fire stations, police stations, hospitals, and emergency services offices, providing an anonymous infant surrender option for parents in crisis. A silent alarm is triggered when the box is closed, alerting on-staff personnel to respond quickly to the infant.

Under Kentucky's Safe Haven laws, an infant up to 30 days old can be surrendered face-to-face, or anonymously through the baby boxes.

There are 468 Safe Haven Baby Boxes in 27 states, and 68 of those boxes are located in Kentucky. More are in various stages of development statewide.

Six infants have been surrendered in the state's baby boxes since the first was installed at Okolona Fire Station 1 in Louisville in 2021. Three of those surrenders have occurred in 2026.

"We're giving those babies the opportunity of a lifetime, an opportunity that they potentially would not have received if they had stayed with the family," said Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg.

"It's great to have a service like this, but if nobody knows about it, what's the point?"

Tate highlighted the law passed by Kentucky's legislature last session requiring high schools to display  the Safe Haven Baby Box crisis hotline alongside other emergency and crisis numbers. That 1-800 hotline for parents in need has fielded 9,000 calls so far and facilitated 500 in-person infant surrenders nationwide.

Signage produced by Kentucky Right to Life is also available to any business who desires to display the information, from restaurants to truck stops to health departments, Wuchner added.

"In Kentucky, we're setting the tone," said Sen. Shelley Funke-Frommeyer, R-Alexandria. "But we still have work to do," she added.

Cameron Edwards, an educator and pastor in Henderson, was at the fair to celebrate his son's accomplishment–winning the Kentucky Civic Competition for 4H. But he's leaving Louisville intending to bring a Safe Haven Baby Box to his community.

"In a time where fiscal solvency and good fiscal planning and policy is critical more than ever–because dollars are hard for a lot of families right now–it's hard to say, 'Let's invest $18,000 of public funds into a resource that may only get used once a year.' But that once a year is a lifetime impact," Edwards said. "And so if we have to do it privately, we'll do it private."

A former hospital philanthropy director, Edwards noted that once he get more details, his family will build a plan to raise the funds necessary to provide a baby box in Henderson. The closest boxes are located in Owensboro and Evansville, Indiana.

"This isn't an issue of choice. This is an issue of necessity," Edwards said.

"These are the kind of issues that, if we're all being honest, everyone loves a baby–or they should. Everyone should care," he added.