Young adult woman gets just 90 days in jail for aborting viable unborn child, burning its body



A Nebraska young adult will serve just 90 days in jail for using abortion pills to abort her unborn nearly 30-week-old child.

What is the background?

As TheBlaze reported, teenager Celeste Burgess and her mother, Jessica Burgess, were charged last year in a horrific case involving Celeste's unborn child.

Police began investigating after receiving concerns that Celeste, then just 17 years old, had prematurely delivered a stillborn baby. But investigators eventually learned that Jessica had purchased abortion pills for her daughter, who then used them to terminate her pregnancy of nearly 30 weeks, more than a month beyond when unborn children are typically deemed "viable," or able to live outside the womb.

Detectives later learned the Burgesses had disposed of the baby's remains twice — before burying them a third time after burning them. Police exhumed the remains and discovered evidence of "thermal injuries" on the child's body.

Police, moreover, discovered Facebook messages showing the Burgesses discuss their plan. In one message, Celeste referred to her unborn child as a mere "thing."

At the time of the crime, abortion was illegal in Nebraska after 20 weeks of gestation. It is now illegal after 12 weeks.

What is happening now?

In May, Celeste, now 19 years old, pleaded guilty to one felony count of removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body in exchange for other misdemeanor charges being dropped.

On Thursday, she was sentenced to serve just 90 days in jail. She was also sentenced to two years of probation.

Abortion activists expressed outrage at the outcome of the case. Elizabeth Ling, for instance, told the New York Times that prosecutors are guilty of "weaponizing" laws to "punish a young person," and their actions added to the "climate of fear that keeps people from seeking health care," i.e., abortions.

But the judge in the case said jail was necessary because of the severity of the crime.

"The Court specifically finds that while probation is appropriate, confinement is necessary because without this confinement, it would depreciate the seriousness of the crime or promote disrespect for the law," the judge said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

Jessica, meanwhile, has pleaded guilty to providing an illegal abortion, false reporting, and tampering with human skeletal remains. In exchange for pleading guilty, prosecutors dropped charges of concealing the death of another person and abortion by someone other than a licensed physician. She will be sentenced on Sept. 22.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Mother, daughter charged in horrific illegal abortion case. But the media mislead to push pro-abortion angle.



Media outlets are sounding the alarm after Facebook allegedly handed over data to law enforcement resulting in a teenager and her mother being criminally charged for an abortion.

But the headlines misleadingly suggest the teenager is being unfairly prosecuted.

What did the media report?

  • Vice: "This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion"
  • Fortune: "Facebook turned over chats used in prosecution of 17-year-old in abortion case, spurring worries the practice could become common"
  • HuffPost: "Facebook Gave Cops Data To Prosecute Nebraska Teenager Who Allegedly Had An Abortion"
  • Newsweek: "Facebook Turning Over Data in Teen's Abortion Case Raises Privacy Questions"
  • The Guardian: "Facebook gave police their private data. Now, this duo face abortion charges"
  • Tech Crunch: "Facebook helps cops prosecute 17-year-old for abortion"
  • PC Mag: "Facebook Gave Nebraska Police Data to Prosecute Teenager in Abortion Case"

But what is the truth?

It is true that Facebook turned over data to investigators.

But the truth is the data was evidence investigators requested as they investigated a Nebraska mother and her teenage daughter, who now face multiple criminal charges after they allegedly conducted an illegal abortion, burning and burying the unborn child.

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, a Norfolk, Nebraska, police detective began investigating in April after receiving a tip that then-17-year-old Celeste Burgess, who is now 18 years old, had miscarried a pregnancy and that she and her mother, 41-year-old Jessica Burgess, disposed of the unborn child's body.

When the detective obtained the teenager's medical records, he learned she had been pregnant nearly six months and was expected to deliver the child in early July. When he interviewed her, she claimed that she had unexpectedly given birth to a stillborn child while in the shower. She explained that she and her mother then buried the body with the help of another man.

When investigators interviewed that man, he disclosed that the mother and daughter allegedly burned the child. When authorities exhumed the body, they discovered evidence corroborating the man's claims.

In light of the horrifying discovery, police charged the mother and daughter with felony removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body and two misdemeanors: concealing the death of another person and false reporting.

Finally, investigators obtained Facebook messages in June after serving a warrant on the social media platform. The messages reportedly showed the mother and daughter had conspired to perform an illegal abortion and hide evidence of their crime.

The messages purportedly revealed the mother had obtained abortion pills for her daughter.

"C. Burgess talks about how she can’t wait to get the ‘thing’ out of her body and reaffirms with J. Burgess that they will burn the evidence afterward," one detective wrote in an affidavit.

In fact, court documents published by Vice show that Burgess only delivered the allegedly stillborn child after taking the abortion drug.

After learning of the conspiracy, prosectors slapped Jessica Burgess with two additional felonies: performing or attempting an abortion on a pregnancy at more than 20 weeks and and performing an abortion as a non-licensed doctor.

Nebraska bans abortion after 20 weeks.

Texas woman charged with murder for 'self-induced abortion;' pro-choice activists hold protest demanding her 'immediate release'



A Texas woman has been charged with murder after law enforcement said she carried out a "self-induced abortion." Pro-choice activists have rallied around the woman and demanded her immediate release from jail.

Lizelle Herrera, 26, was arrested on Thursday by the Starr County Sheriff’s Office and charged with murder.

A Starr County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told KVEO-TV Herrera was arrested after authorities learned she "intentionally and knowingly caused the death of an individual by self-induced abortion."

It was not clear how far along Herrera was in her pregnancy.

Herrera remains in the custody of the Starr County Sheriff’s Office with a bond set at $500,000.

“I really can’t imagine what they are going through right now,” family friend Romeo Gonzalez told the New York Post.

A handful of pro-choice activists gathered at the jail near the Texas-Mexico border to protest Herrera's arrest.

Texas Public Radio reporter Pablo De La Rosa wrote on Twitter, "Protesters mobilized by Frontera Fund and South Texas for Reproductive Justice at Starr County Jail after Lizelle Herrera's arrest."

The Frontera Fund is a self-described "abortion fund for the Rio Grande Valley."

“This arrest is inhumane. We are demanding the immediate release of Lizelle Herrera," declared Rockie Gonzalez – founder of the Frontera Fund. “What is alleged is that she was in the hospital and had a miscarriage and divulged some information to hospital staff, who then reported her to the police.”

Protesters mobilized by @LaFronteraFund and South Texas for Reproductive Justice at Starr County Jail after Lizelle Herrera's arrest. Follow @Wzrd_of_Lnlynss who is there this morning for updates. Full audio of my interview with Frontera's Chairwoman here: https://soundcloud.com/pblodlr/interview-with-la-frontera-funds-rockie-gonzalez-on-lizelle-herreras-arrest-in-starr-county\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/g5JnL68bZy
— Pablo De La Rosa (@Pablo De La Rosa) 1649515683

Melissa Arjona – cofounder of South Texans for Reproductive Justice – was also at the protest for Lizelle Herrera.

"I mean, they criminalized pregnancy, basically, and abortion access," Arjona said, referencing the Texas Heartbeat Act. "And so we knew something like this was bound to happen eventually."

Last May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the pro-life Texas Heartbeat Act that prohibits physicians from "knowingly perform[ing] or induce[ing] an abortion on a pregnant woman if the physician detected a fetal heartbeat for the unborn child ... or failed to perform a test to detect a fetal heartbeat."

A report from February found that abortions fell by nearly 60% after the Texas Heartbeat Act went into effect.

However, a study that was published in March said that abortions only fell by 10% because many female Texans went to other states to get abortions. According to a study, an average of 1,391 women traveled to one of seven states for an abortion per month between September 2021 and the end of the year.