A US woman from the state of Nebraska has been sentenced to two years in prison for helping her teenage daughter obtain abortion pills, reported New York Times.
the abortion pillPhoto: Allen G. Breed / AP / Profimedia
Jessica Burgess and her daughter were accused of acting together to terminate the pregnancy of Celeste Burgess in April 2022.
The 41-year-old mother ordered the pills online and gave them to her daughter, who was 17 at the time and in her third trimester, the Times reported Friday, citing prosecutors.
Authorities said the family then buried the aborted fetus.
Abortion beyond the legal limit of 20 weeks
In April of this year, police began investigating suspicions that Celeste Burgess gave birth prematurely to a stillborn child, whom they buried together.
In July, the girl was sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to concealing human remains.
Her mother, Jessica, pleaded guilty in July to violating Nebraska’s abortion law, providing false information to a police officer and removing or concealing human remains.
Celeste Burgess, who was released earlier this month, was in the courtroom wiping away tears when her mother was sentenced Friday, according to the Daily News.
The 41-year-old mother was facing five charges, including one under a 2010 law that only allows abortion up to 20 weeks after fertilization.
On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned a federal ruling that had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide since 1973. Since then, each state has been free to set its own abortion access policy.
But about ten states have banned abortions, forcing clinics to close or relocate. (AFP)
