Write a three-paragraph essay in which you explain what options are available to Margaret under the law and write about what you think she should do, on a personal level.

Margaret, 17, is pregnant and does not know what to do. It’s too late for her to have an abortion. In fact, she is due in three weeks.
Margaret’s parents are religious fundamentalist and when they found out she was pregnant, they kicked her out of the house. She came to New York from her native Ohio and lived homeless in the Time Square area for a couple of months.
Margaret is now staying at Covenant House, a home for runaway teens in Manhattan, but they want her out the minute she gives birth because the rules of the place do not allow residents with children. They have suggested that she considers going to a homeless shelter, but she has heard horrible things about such places, and does not want to go there.
Margaret is overwhelmed by her predicament and has even contemplated infanticide (killing the baby) by throwing the baby into a dumpster.
Write a three-paragraph essay in which you explain what options are available to Margaret under the law and write about what you think she should do, on a personal level. You must address the issue of Safe-Haven Laws and how such laws may or may not be helpful to Margaret. State how the Safe-Haven Laws work. Would Margaret have to give her name if she chooses to avail herself of the protection of these laws? Will she be prosecuted if she leaves her child abandoned? Could they prosecute her for child neglect or child abuse?

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