LOUISVILLE, Colo. — Three priests, a rabbi and two ministers walked in together, but what followed in this Colorado community was anything but a joke.

Rather, it marked the beginning of an emotionally wrenching memorial service for Mary Louise, a baby left to die near a dumpster outside of a Louisville Safeway.

Mary Louise is a tragic part of a growing phenomenon in the United States of parents disposing of infants, leaving them to die. States are grappling with new laws designed to help save the children, and the non-profit group Project Cuddle is working to find alternatives for such parents.

Father Donald Willette, pastor of St. Louis Catholic Church in Louisville, said his parish hosted and organized the Nov. 15 interfaith memorial service to show respect for the infant and bless her body. Mary Louise's death is as great a loss to society as the death of a wealthy, accomplished adult with family and friends, the priest explained.

“Whatever claim to fame you have, whatever press you have managed to get for yourself, or whatever plaques you have on the wall — whatever way in which you say ‘I am somebody’ — those perks from the community have little to do with our value as creatures of God,” Father Willette told an assembly of about 100 people. “The value of your life goes far beyond the bank accounts you have, the credit cards you have, or the size of the home you live in.

“Infants have dignity. Mary Louise couldn't read or spell or talk or even focus her eyes yet. But God has prepared a place for her.”

Before offering Mass, Father Willette invited mothers to the microphone to eulogize a child they didn't know had lived until she was found dead Oct. 12.

Mothers’ Prayers

Six mothers took turns talking, and more spoke later at the baby's interment near a memorial for the unborn at Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Cemetery in Boulder. The mothers urged mourners to pray for the child and the unknown mother who treated her as trash.

“I lost five babies before giving birth to two healthy girls,” said Jeanne Donahue, director of pre-school at St. Louis Catholic Church. “That woman, whoever she is, will never forget this child and what she did to her. Mary Louise is fine. She's in heaven. But this woman has to live the rest of her life with this.”

Another mother hoped to communicate to the mother through the media, telling her: “Please know that God loves you. There is forgiveness and grace for you.”

At the interment, the Rev. Dan Hoeger, a Lutheran minister, said the entire community must work to avoid future tragedies.

“What we have here is a lack of love,” he said. “We as a community have somehow failed, and a child is dead.”

The federal government keeps no statistics on discarded infants. However, an article in the American Criminal Law Review says media accounts indicate an alarming rise in their numbers.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services surveyed major newspapers and found that, in 1998, 105 babies were found discarded in public places in the United States, and 33 of those were found dead. Using identical survey techniques, HHS found that seven years earlier, only 65 babies were discarded, with eight found dead.

Project Cuddle

The phenomenon caught the attention of Debbe Magnusen in 1996. Magnusen founded Project Cuddle to provide teddy bears and dolls to police departments, so children could be comforted while being taken into custody or witnessing their parents or guardians being taken into custody.

When Magnusen read about five babies abandoned in Orange County, Calif., she started a 24-hour, toll-free crisis hotline for women who are contemplating dispensing of one or more children (1-888-628-3353).

Magnusen quickly organized a network of volunteers throughout the country who take in children who might otherwise be discarded, until more permanent arrangements can be made for their custody and care.

To date, Project Cuddle says it has rescued 155 infants from abandonment in back alleys, dump-sters and an array of other locations. Some parents have reported to the hotline their intention to discard infants, and others have called to report the locations of discarded babies.

Project Cuddle volunteers say they hear various reasons for the discarding of infants — mothers being victims of rape; the child's father being someone other than the mother's spouse; fear of being abused if discovered with a child; fear of humiliation; fear of social services taking the parent's other children; fear of an ex-spouse taking custody; being pregnant by someone of another race; and fear of financial catastrophe.

“I pray for these young women who find themselves so desperate they can do something like this,” said Gloria Jiminez, a mother of four who spoke at the memorial service for Mary Louise.

In recent years, 13 states, including Colorado, have passed controversial laws granting parents immunity from prosecution if they abandon their children at hospitals, fire stations or police departments.

Supporters say the laws encourage women to spare the lives of their children, without fear of retribution. Critics say the government should not endorse an alternative to the traditional, planned adoption process.

Colorado's new “Safe Haven Law” did not help Mary Louise. And in Texas, more than a dozen infants have been discarded in back alleys and dumpsters since that state's Safe Haven law took effect in 1999.

A study conducted at the University of California found that people who discard infants fit a general profile. Most, said the study, are “very young, unmarried, physically healthy women who are pregnant for the first time and not addicted to substances … The vast majority live either with their parent(s), guardian(s), or other relatives.

“Massive denial is a prominent feature of this situation,” the report stated. “Women who kill and/or discard their infants generally have made no plans for the birth or care of their child, and get no prenatal care.”

Mary Louise received little care from the mother who left her with the trash in a dark alley behind a supermarket. At the cemetery, however, dozens lined up at the baby's tiny casket to show how much they cared, some kissing the casket, others lighting candles or leaving flowers and teddy bears.

Said one mother after leaving flowers on the casket, “I'm sure Mary Louise is looking down from heaven at us, with a tear in her eye.”

Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.