An 18-year-old northeast Nebraska woman was sentenced Thursday to 90 days in jail and two years probation for burning and burying a fetus she aborted with the help of its mother in a case watched by advocates as a string of states move to restrict access to abortion.
Celeste Burgess, of Norfolk, was sentenced in Madison County after pleading guilty earlier this year to concealing or abandoning a body. Two other misdemeanor charges of false information and concealment of the death of another person were dropped, in an agreement with prosecutors.
“The Court specifically finds that while probation is appropriate, confinement is necessary because without probation, it would depreciate the seriousness of the offense or promote disrespect for the law,” the judge’s order read.
Burgess and her mother, Jessica Burgess, 42, of Norfolk, are accused of working together to terminate the pregnancy. The abortion, well into her third trimester, violated Nebraska law at the time that prohibited abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. Authorities said Jessica Burgess ordered abortion pills online, which she gave to her 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 guilty plea, charges of concealing the death of another person and abortion by someone other than a licensed physician were dismissed. She faces sentencing on September 22.
The Norfolk police detective opened an investigation into the abortion following a tip, according to an arrest affidavit. Police obtained a search warrant to gain access to Facebook messages between the two, in which prosecutors say the women discussed terminating the pregnancy and destroying evidence. Police later 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 terminate the pregnancy, according to court records. In another, Celeste Burgess wrote, “I’ll finally be able to wear jeans,” according to the documents.
Last year, the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, who for 50 years had established the constitutional right to abortion. Nebraska lawmakers who opposed efforts by Republicans 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.
Republicans in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature failed to enact a six-week abortion ban this year, but later passed a 12-week ban after adding it as an amendment to another bill to limit gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Opponents say it violated a Nebraska constitutional requirement that bills stick to a single issue.
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit to overturn the abortion ban and transgender care bill.
