Celeste Burgess, Norfolk, Nebraska woman gets jail time for using abortion pills to have late trimester abortion as states eye to outlaw abortion outright irrespective of trimester.
A Nebraska teen girl who conspired with her mother to end her pregnancy in the trimester with the aid of abortion pills has been sentenced to 90 days jail after pleading guilty this year to concealing or abandoning a dead body.
Celeste Burgess, 19, of Norfolk along with being sentenced to jail time was on Thursday also put on two yeas probation for burning and burying a fetus she aborted with her mother’s help in a case watched by advocates as a slew of states move to restrict abortion access.
‘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’s order read.
Mother conspired with daughter to end pregnancy
Burgess and her mother, 42-year-old Jessica Burgess of Norfolk, are accused of working together to end the pregnancy. The abortion, well into her third trimester, violated Nebraska law at the time that banned abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. Officials have said Jessica Burgess ordered abortion pills online, which she gave to her then-17-year-old daughter in the spring of 2022.
Jessica Burgess pleaded guilty earlier this month to providing an illegal abortion, false reporting and tampering with human skeletal remains. In exchange for her plea, charges of concealing the death of another person and abortion by someone other than a licensed physician were dismissed. She faces sentencing on Sept. 22, News Channel Nebraska Central reported.
In a plea bargain earlier this month, Jessica Burgess pleaded guilty to two felonies – removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body; and performing an abortion beyond 20 weeks – and the misdemeanor charge of false reporting.
The other charges against Jessica Burgess – the felony count of performing an abortion while not being a physician; and the misdemeanor count of concealing the death of another person – were dismissed.
Criminality irrespective of pregnancy gestation
Norfolk police detective opened an investigation into the abortion in late April 2022 following concerns Celeste had a medicated abortion despite the teen’s mother telling authorities Celeste delivering a stillborn fetus, according to court documents.
Police secured a search warrant to gain access to Facebook messages between the two, in which prosecutors say the women discussed terminating the pregnancy and destroying the evidence. Police then found the burned fetal remains buried in a field north of Norfolk.
In one of the Facebook messages, Jessica Burgess instructed her daughter on how to take the pills to end the pregnancy. In another, Celeste Burgess wrote, ‘I will finally be able to wear jeans,’ according to the documents.
Citing the Facebook messages between mother and daughter, Nebrask authorities alleged Celeste Burgess having an illegal abortion, while she was 28 weeks pregnant. Nebraska law only allows for termination no later than up to 20 weeks.
Are some states going too far?
The case comes on the heels of the U.S Supreme Court last year overturning Roe v. Wade, which for 50 years had established the constitutional right to abortion. Nebraska lawmakers who opposed Republican’s efforts to severely restrict abortion access in the legislative session that ended in June, repeatedly cited the Norfolk case, saying it shows state prosecutors would target women who seek abortions with criminal penalties.
Earlier this year, Nebraska’s governor signed a bill into law that bans most abortions in the state after 12 weeks, with exceptions for sexual assault, incest and medical emergencies.
The ACLU has sued to overturn the abortion ban.
Celeste Burgess’ sentence may be reduced to closer to 50 days ‘due to the possibility of good time,’ Andrew Nelson of Courthouse News said.
