Nebraska Woman Charged With Helping Her Daughter Get Illegal Abortion

A woman in Nebraska and her teenage daughter face criminal charges after the teen allegedly obtained an unlawful abortion. The teen’s mother is being charged alongside her daughter for allegedly abetting the abortion and subsequently hiding the act. The prosecution marks one of the first criminal abortion cases since the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

According to Norfolk police, the investigation began after the teen gave birth prematurely to a stillborn child. Police allege that the then-17-year-old girl had received assistance from her mother, who helped the teen secure abortion pills to end the pregnancy and subsequently bury the fetus. Upon first being interviewed, the two women told investigators that the teen had unexpectedly given birth to a stillborn baby and that they had chosen to bury the body themselves.

The teen, now 18 years old and being tried as an adult, is charged with three felony counts for unlawful burying and reburying the fetus, as well as a misdemeanor for concealing the death of a person and lying to the police. Her 41-year-old mother faces five felony counts of unlawfully burying and reburying a fetus, inducing and performing an abortion without being a licensed physician, as well as misdemeanor charges for allegedly concealing the death of another person and lying to police. According to court records, both mother and daughter have pleaded not guilty.

The case raises a number of unfortunate issues unique to the modern era. Notably, the abortion took place before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion. The government alleges that the teen’s abortion took place well into the third trimester, in violation of the state’s already-existing abortion ban. Nevertheless, it paints a stark picture of how abortion prosecutions may proceed in states where the medical procedure has been banned.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court undid 50 years of precedent by establishing that states can restrict any and all abortions to their hearts’ content. State legislatures around the country are testing those waters with abortion restrictions that range from unreasonably short time limits (6-12 weeks, often before women even know they’re pregnant) to outright bans, some even including no exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Doctors in many of these states have expressed concerns about performing even life-saving abortions, citing legitimate concerns about their criminal and professional liabilities.

The case also raises alarming concerns about internet privacy. The prosecution is heavily based on Facebook messages exchanged between the two before the abortion. Days before the teen’s abortion, the mother sent her daughter a message stating: “Hey we can get the show on the road the stuff came in,” later adding, “The 1 pill stops the hormones and then you gotta wait 24 hours 2 take the other.” In later messages, they discuss “starting it today.” Police obtained the Facebook messages through a warrant.

Women’s health and civil rights advocates around the country are advising women to limit the data they share with any platform online. Facebook and other non-encrypted messaging apps are easily accessible by the police and other parties. Period tracking apps and other apps that obtain personal information can also be used to inform the police about possible abortions, without obtaining the consent of the user.

For its part, Facebook’s parent company Meta issued a statement claiming that they responded to the warrant without knowing the investigation had to do with abortion. It’s not clear what else the company could have done upon being served with a warrant, but there are proactive steps Facebook and other online services could take to limit the amount of data available to investigators even upon request.