Under the proposed legislation, hospitals would be required to ask for identification and DNA testing for anyone who brings a newborn to the facility, claiming the child as their own. The bill, nicknamed Marlen’s Law, aims to prevent infant abductions.
Ms. Ochoa-Lopez was murdered April 23 after responding to a Facebook ad about free baby clothes. Prosecutors say two women — 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa and her 24-year-old daughter Desiree — strangled Ms. Ochoa-Lopez and cut the infant out of her womb. Clarisa Figueroa brought the infant to Oak Lawn, Ill.-based Advocate Christ Medical Center, where she claimed the baby was hers.
Illinois health officials are investigating whether the hospital violated the Abuse and Neglected Children Reporting Act by not notifying authorities of the newborn until May 9.
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