COLUMBUS — Parents of unwanted infants will be able to drop off their babies at hospitals or other safe havens under legislation Gov. Bob Taft signed into law Friday.

        With the measure, Ohio follows the lead of at least 27 other states that have passed similar laws. At least three Ohio cities already allow parents to abandon children at hospitals, including Akron, Canton and Cincinnati.

        The goal, supporters say, is to take away the fear of arrest as a motive for desperate parents abandoning newborns in dangerous or hard-to-find places such as garbage cans or park benches.

        Parents can anonymously give a newborn who is no older than 72 hours to an emergency medical service worker, a police officer or a hospital employee without being arrested on charges of child endangering or neglect.

        The law, which goes into effect in three months, allows juvenile courts to accept the baby as a neglected child and place it into the state child-care system.

        A parent who later wants the child back must submit to a DNA test.

        Mr. Taft also signed legislation that requires bail bondsmen to register with the state and become licensed.

        The law, which goes into effect in 90 days, says only licensed bail bondsmen, licensed private investigators and off-duty law enforcement officers will be able to apprehend, detain or arrest a person.

        “Bail bondsmen and their hired hands, the bounty hunters, serve a vital position in society by apprehending, detaining and arresting wanted fugitives,” said Rep. David Goodman, the Columbus Republican who sponsored the legislation. “I just want to make sure that we protect citizens from the increasingly evident problem of their misconduct and abuse of power.”

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