A teenage mother in Houston recently put her newborn baby boy in a trash bag, tied it closed, and tossed him in a dumpster in the Texas July heat. Fortunately, a passerby heard the baby’s cries and summoned help.

The event is shocking. A young mother left her own baby for dead in a dumpster because, she claimed, she had “no choice.” But she did have a choice.

I’m not talking about parenting or traditional adoption. The dumpster where the teenage mother abandoned her baby was only a mile away from two different fire stations, both of which are Safe Haven dropoff points in Texas. Texas has a law that allows a mother to give her newborn baby to a first responder at an EMS station, fire station, or hospital and then walk away — no paperwork, no ID, no criminal charges. In Texas, the law is called the Baby Moses Law.

I know this because I am a civil rights attorney in San Antonio, TX, and I’m working to raise national awareness of Safe Haven laws throughout the country.

The Baby Moses Law in Texas is not unique. Every state in the country has a Safe Haven law, which allows a mother to give her newborn to an employee in a hospital or other medical facility and immediately give up all rights and responsibilities of parenting. These laws vary somewhat by state, but they have already saved the lives of nearly 5,000 infants, according to the National Safe Haven Alliance.

Although Safe Haven laws are saving lives, this horrifying event in my home state of Texas shows that awareness of Safe Haven laws is still far too low. The baby could have been spared the risk of death, and the teenage mother could have been spared the emotional trauma and criminal consequences — if she had only known about the Texas Safe Haven law.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution declares that “no State shall deprive a person of life, liberty and property without due process of law.” If a person’s life is not protected, all their other rights hold very little meaning.

It’s time for all civil rights advocates to raise awareness of the Safe Haven laws that exist in every state. Awareness is the first step in protecting a civil right, including the right to life.

If a teen mother doesn’t know that Safe Haven exists in her state, then she may believe, like the Houston mother, that she has no choice. While the story ended happily for the baby in Houston, there is still a teenager facing criminal consequences and suffering emotional trauma over what she did. We need to make sure that ignorance does not send more mothers to prison and sentence babies to death.

If you would like to learn more about Safe Haven laws, you can read this publication from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or visit the National Safe Haven Alliance.