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Subscribe to RSSThe baby girl was discovered by pets that had picked up on her scent coming from the bag. Keith Garvin of NBC station KPRC reports.
Child welfare officials have taken custody of a newborn girl who was found abandoned in a plastic grocery bag by passing dogs in Cypress, Texas.
The infant was in good condition at Texas Children's Hospital but was lucky to be alive, doctors and law enforcement officials said.
"If it had not have been for the resident that came out to walk her dogs, that child may have laid there all night (and) possibly would have died," said Harris County sheriff's Sgt. Gordon Trott told NBC station KPRC of Houston.
The girl was found by a fence about 7 p.m. (8 p.m. ET) Tuesday near an apartment complex in Cypress, a city of 57,000 about 25 miles northwest of Houston. Overnight low temperatures there have dropped into the low 40s in recent days.
About 3 inches of her umbilical cord was still attached, and while it had been cut, it hadn't been clamped, Trott said. That made her situation especially perilous.
"If the cord is not clamped before it's cut, there is a risk of the baby bleeding out through the unclamped cord, which could have led to a baby's death," Tiffany McKee-Garrett, a pediatrician at Texas Children's Hospital, told KPRC.
Sheriff's deputies were still searching Thursday for the baby's mother, who they said could face a felony child endangerment charge.
Child welfare officials said they were perplexed by the case, because Texas law allows anyone to drop off a newborn at a hospital or a fire station — no questions asked.
"All you have to do is hand the baby over," said Gwen Carter, a spokeswoman for Harris County Child Protective Services.
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I am sorry If I offend anyone, but I must say that as a christian woman, I do not have a problem mentioning the word penis or vagina. We all have to come to a realization, that sex education does need to be taught. In the school district where I am from, they provide the sex education as an entire day affair. They separate boys , and the girls . They do this once the kids are in 5th. I know this because I just signed the permission slip for my 11 year old daughter. As a single mom, it is important for my children to feel comfortable enough to come to me about anything. While it is a little uncomfortable, I made it a point to tell my daughter what the class was about and told her if she was uneasy about something, i would do my best to help her understand. I did not want her to be scared because of what she is about to go through. Some of you post with a lot of hatred. I feel as if we need to reserve judgement until the facts are known. There are entirely to many unanswered questions, and i think we need to be careful before judgement is passed. I pray that the Lord finds suitable parents for this baby.
Better look into what they are teaching. Your daughter may be exposed to "alternate lifestyles" by Butch and Butch-ette, learn all about things like fisting, and be introduced on a first-name basis to aborticians employed by local abortuaries.
Schools are a tool that is available to you, for teaching your kids the three "R"s. They have no business indoctrinating your children into their various mental illnesses.
I agree completely with Vern.
The schools have no business teaching their ideas to MY kids.
I rather be the one to have this conversation with them. At least I can implement my morals/values/ethics into MY children.
Grammar nazi attack! When you see it: "...which could of led to a baby's death".
It was just one of the many late term abortions committed everyday on healthy babies. Her attempt failed and a life was spared.
Yup. That baby has survived the DemonKKKrat's bloodthirsty War Against Women, Children, Minorities, and the Poor...so far.
Can I not just get one attack from the liberal left. So I can destroy you in a verbal joust. Good night folks and pray for our rescued baby in Texas. Life is bitter sweet. Oh! an affordable contraceptive pill is an asprin, just hold it between your knees.
I'm glad the baby was rescued and I certainly hope she will be a welcomed addition to a loving family.
I do, however, have something else to say. Where's the editor? I find it hard to believe that the physician actually said "....could of led to a baby's death..." Really? Could of led? How about "could HAVE led". It just surprises, and saddens me, to see news articles published with such blatant grammatical errors.
Vern and pjames - you are not women so what gives you the right to be self-righteous god, jury and judge? Good 'ol Texas - land of the Republican yayhoos and Bible-thumpers.
I'm guessing the baby and the parents are democrats, so who looks stupid now. We republicans and bible thumpers take responsibility for our kids. If you leave a baby in a plastic bag to die, you are announcing your character. Someone who observes it accurately is not judging, they are reporting.
I hate that we are so damn PC here. Don't say it could lead to child endangerment. It WILL lead to those charges. So if I drive drink and kill someone, it might lead to vehicular manslaughter, but if there was intense peer pressure for me to drink, it might be an exception?
Bring the hammer down.
The mom should be forcibly sterilized!
Likewise, the father should be also.
And the father should be castrated, physically, nuts cut off.
good ol Rick Perry. no more funding for Planned Parenthood in your holier-than-thou, backwards state, huh? better get used to THIS scenario because it WILL be happening more and more. way to go Texas!
What a STUPID comment! I guess you celebrate when babies are murdered. So, because Perry doesn't want to give tax payer money to an organization that kills babies, you are going to blame him instead of the heartless mother who did this? What a moron you are. At least the baby is alive, no thanks to Planned Babykillers.
Speaking of stupid comments Bill, you do know taxpayer money doesn't go towards abortions, per the Hyde Amendment, right? Nor is abortion killing!
Why is this a democratic vs. republican issue? The baby was born and tragically (for whatever the reason) the parents chose not to care for their child. Instead of turning this into an 'us' vs 'them' debate, why not actually work for positive change that would avoid these type of tragedies in the future. Its a human issue - not a political one!
Thank God the baby is OK. I just cannot imagine how someone could do that.
In the sixth paragraph (where the unclamped cord is discussed), the correct grammar is COULD HAVE not COULD OF.
Yet ,having a baby and leaving it lying in a plastic bag to die is 1000 times more stupid than being incapable of distinguishing which grammar applies. If this were an exercise in grammar, you'd be right. Since it is a discussion of proper responsibility to ones progeny, your remarks smack of denial and poor ability to concentrate on the actual issue.
That's actually sad. I mean, all the mother had to do was give the baby to the adoption center which they have at the hospital I believe, not tourture it by putting it in a plastic bag outside in cold temperatures with all sorots of ways it could die!
Obviously a baby born to an..uneducated idiot of the highest degreee!!!!!!!!! All she had to do was drop the baby off in TX without any charges or questions. Who knows? That baby could be a president or find a cure for cancer one day. Hell, Obama made it...@!$%#..anybody can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously though,Good luck to the kid. My wife and I have included the newborn in our prayers!!
I am a child advocate, pro life and basically I agree with you, but please don't judge this lady. You say you pray, well do you remember " he who is without sin casts the first stone." You, like me, have your own issues that deserve judgement. God sent his son to take our sins so there would be no judgement if we believe in him. You don't know what she is going through. She could have been raped, she could have huge mental issues. If God can forgive her why can't you?
"...which could of led to a baby's death"
nbc, PLEASE get a proper editor!!! I beg you.....
did they question the dog for possible foul play?
You can knock Texas all you want, but that law they have of no questions asked and drop a baby at a firestation or hospital is right on. The mother is probably some teenage girl who may not even know about that law. She is probably very young and scared. But still....the baby in a bag. Makes you wonder what we are coming to...or have already become.
I hope this baby ends up ok. And I hope when the baby is grown that he or she never has to read some of the ignorant b.s. that people commented about something that is so horrible and sad. Sending my love out for a little babe that really needs it. And hoping some of the people that commented their ridicilous "thoughts" find some sense and try to use it someday.
Stories like this show where our nation fails miserably at keeping good values. They'll go after a mother for abandoning her baby, but won't go after a mother for killing her baby in an abortion. Partial abortion can be done up to nine months. So our country is saying it's not human until the head and body pop out. Then it becomes a real living breathing child. We need to save All the babies. I agree with the statement that everyone who is for abortion has already been born. Please America, stand up for human life!
Stand up for human life such as not sending soldiers off to fight and die in polititians wars for profit and power like the bogus war in Iraq, 4,000 soldiers died for B/S samo samo.
We have to start somewhere, and keeping our children alive should be first. Think of all the millions of babies who have died from abortion. Think of the intelligence our world has lost. Great minds who could have found cures for diseases, minds who would have done so many great things have been slaughtered. Documentaries have been made on partial birth abortion showing how the babies shakes violently in pain, yet no anesthetics can be administered because "it's not human yet."
Humm, a woman can dump a baby off at a firehouse and walla no child support. Doesn't even have to notify the father. Seems fair??? Fathers are hunted down, and even if they are unemployed they have to pay thousands a month, because that is the formula. Business licenses, driver licenses are taken away. BUT a woman can d u m p her child at a fire station. Walla problem solved. Fair?
The Police may charge the mother with felony child endangerment, but what about the father, unless this was a case of immaculate holy conception or the mother impregnated herself.
Once again it is painfully obvious that being too F'ing stupid to work simple birth control goes hand in hand with being too dim to just take the baby to the hospital and drop it off as is public knowledge.
"Oh, the schools don't teach sex ed", or "the evil Christians stifle talk of birth control." BS. Do the Christians stifle intelligence, too? The schools are the government. The government is incapable of holding your hand through every obstacle in life. If this mother was interested in learning how to prevent pregnancy (or if the father was) it is certainly not a mystery. The information is available online, in the drug store, 1000 free clinics, etc. Planned Parenthood will be happy to assist. This is a low intelligence, heavily into denial, deluded, non-caring moron who was more concerned with their genitals than common sense or decency.
Dogs are better people than most people, including most of the people posting here.
After years and yearss of observation and who;e minutes of cogitation I have concluded that it is a high compliment to tell someone they are worthy of their dog(s).
I hope baby grows up healthy and happy and mother gets her act together and gets a better life.
Al, you aren't all that crazy. I've known a lot of dogs that are nicer, smarter, and take better care of their newborns than most humans.
I hope the baby does well also, but...genetically she might turn out to be as dumb as a bag of hammers. Sad.
In a country where we still suffer from human trafficking it does not surprise me that a woman abandoned her child in this manner.
Who knows what led to this baby being abandoned in a plastic bag?
What is known is that many posters are treating the situation as just another political football.
While I am pro choice if I had a choice in this matter it would be that this baby finds a loving family.