Officials in Nebraska say a father abandoned nine children at a hospital last night under the state's new safe haven law.

The law went into effect in July. It allows caregivers to leave children at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution. The law was initially intended to protect infants, but state lawmakers amended it to include children and teenagers.

Officials say the children left at the Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room last night ranged in age from 1 to 17. State officials say all nine were physically OK, and authorities had no information on why their father left them.

Lawmakers say the case illustrates a problem many feared when
the law was passed -- that parents might be tempted to abandon
teens not because of any real danger, but simply because they can't
control them.