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Teenager arrested for abortion after Facebook handed her private messages to police

Photo credit: The Good Brigade - Getty Images
Photo credit: The Good Brigade - Getty Images

A teenage girl and her mother have been arrested in the US on suspicion of illegal abortion after Facebook handed private messages between the pair over to police.

Celeste Burgess – who was 17 at the time of her alleged crime – is facing three charges and is being tried as an adult. Her mother, 41-year-old Jessica Burgess, is facing five criminal charges including three felonies for allegedly helping Celeste abort, burn and bury the foetus earlier this year. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and are awaiting trial in Madison County District Court in the state of Nebraska, where abortions are banned after week 20 in pregnancy.

Charges against the pair came about when detectives launched an investigation in April following a tip off that Celeste had miscarried. Police then accessed the teen's medical records and learnt she was nearly six months (23 weeks) pregnant when she lost the baby – which police believe to have happened after an illegal abortion.

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But when the pair were called in for questioning by police they claimed Celeste had unexpectedly had a stillbirth whilst in the shower. The teen said she then woke her mother up adding that they put the baby's body in a bag before hiding it in their vehicle, later driving several miles north where they buried it.

Detectives weren't convinced with the mother and daughter's story and continued on with their investigation. One week after charging the pair, police served Facebook with a search warrant which lead detectives to find alleged messages that suggested Jessica had sourced abortion pills for her daughter and offered instructions on how to take them.

"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 afterwards," a detective wrote in court documents.

Photo credit: Sean Locke - Getty Images
Photo credit: Sean Locke - Getty Images

News of the shocking case understandably sent shockwaves across the world, with many people calling into question what lead the women to take such actions whilst others once again pointed out the implications of Roe v Wade having recently been overturned.

"Imagine becoming a police officer to make your community a safer place… and now you are reading through a teenager’s social media messages so she can be prosecuted as an adult for getting an abortion," one person tweeted. "What a world we live in. #RoevWade."

"I care about why the daughter and mother had to resort to this," pop culture expert Kiki Monique said on Instagram. "Did they have access to medical care or were they left helpless to make a decision that could now ruin both of their lives. And will Meta make adjustments in how they comply with search warrants in the future?"

In response to news that Facebook had played a part in the mother and daughter's arrest, a spokesperson for Meta (the social platform's parent company) said: "Much of the reporting about Meta’s role in a criminal case against a mother and daughter in Nebraska is plain wrong. We want to take the opportunity to set the record straight."

The statement continued, "We received valid legal warrants from local law enforcement on June 7, before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The warrants did not mention abortion at all.

"Court documents indicate that police were at that time investigating the alleged illegal burning and burial of a stillborn infant. The warrants were accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing information about them. The orders have now been lifted."

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