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?

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.