A Nebraska woman has been charged with helping her teenage daughter end her pregnancy after investigators uncovered Facebook messages in which the two discussed using medication to induce an abortion and burning the fetus.
It is the first time anyone has been charged for performing an abortion after 20 weeks that the prosecutor has handled. States weren't allowed to enforce abortion bans until a fetus is considered viable outside the womb at 24 weeks.
In one of the Facebook messages, Jessica Burgess told her daughter that she had obtained abortion pills and gave her instructions on how to take them.
The daughter talked about how she couldn't wait to get the things out of her body. She said in one of the messages that she would be able to wear jeans. Some of the messages were detailed in court documents.
The mother and daughter were only charged with one felony for removing, concealing or abandoning a body and two misdemeanors for concealing the death of another person. The felony abortion charges against the mother were added after investigators reviewed the private Facebook messages. The daughter is being charged as an adult because of her age.
The public defender representing the daughter did not reply to a message Tuesday.
Two people told investigators that a teen gave birth to a baby in the shower in the early morning hours of April 22. They put the fetus in a bag, put it in a box in the back of their van, and then took the body to a location north of town.
The man, who The Associated Press is not identifying because he has only been charged with a misdemeanor, pleaded no contest to helping bury the fetus on his parents' land. He will be sentenced this month.
The man told investigators that the mother and daughter burned the fetus, according to court documents. The daughter told her mother that the two would burn the evidence after. The baby was more than 23 weeks old, according to the detective.
The abortion pills were bought for the purpose of inciting a miscarriage.
The mother and daughter initially said they didn't know when the stillbirth happened, but the daughter later confirmed the date by using her Facebook messages. He asked for the warrant after that.
According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Madison County Attorney Joseph Smith has never filed charges like this before. He didn't reply to the AP's message.
1,331 women were arrested for crimes related to their pregnancies between 2006 and 2020 according to the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
Nebraska tried to pass a law that would have banned all abortions if the Supreme Court legalized them.
The company has said that officials at the social media giant scrutinize every government request they receive to make sure it is legal.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
