A Nebraska woman who illegally gave her pregnant daughter abortion pills was recently sentenced to prison. The woman then burned and buried the baby’s remains in her backyard and, knowing how vile her actions were, lied to investigators about it.
A state judge sentenced the mother, Jessica Burgess, 42, to two years behind bars for “tampering with human remains, false reporting and providing an abortion after at least 20 weeks of gestation, which is illegal in Nebraska, according to the Associated Press.
“Remember we burn the evidence.”
Jessica Burgess, 42, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was sentenced to two years in prison for assisting her daughter with an illegal, late-term abortion and burning and burying the baby’s remains.https://t.co/3yHh9Tf2B0
— Samantha Flom (@SamanthaFlom) September 24, 2023
What’s interesting is the fact that Burgess is only receiving two years in prison despite the cruelty of her actions. Remember the individuals who protested at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021? Many of those protesters received over 10 years behind bars simply for exercising their First Amendment rights.
“I shudder to think, Ms. Burgess, that you have such disrespect for a — call it a human fetus, call it a stillborn child — that you would treat it like yesterday’s trash and not give it some respect in its treatment and disposal,” Madison County District Judge Mark Johnson said, according to PJ Media. “Our society expects more; it demands more.”
After taking the abortion pills, Burgess’s daughter shared just how ecstatic she was to “finally be able to wear jeans” on Facebook.
The Burgesses reportedly had the assistance of a 22-year-old man, who provided them with transportation to and from several burial sites, according to Norfolk Daily News. The man told the outlet that the Burgesses felt they needed to burn the baby’s remains twice because they weren’t satisfied the first time doing so.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith said the Burgesses then purchased apple-flavored barbecue briquettes to block the unpleasant smell from the burning remains.
“This defendant is not a doctor. As far as we know she has no medical training,” Smith said. “Nebraska has a licensing act that states doctors, nurses, barbers and tattoo people ought to meet standards … and that is for the public’s safety.”
Smith said the abortion pills Burgess provided her daughter with likely came from a seller in India, adding that such pills are not prescribed by doctors after a woman’s pregnancy exceeds 10 weeks.
“This defendant actually gave these drugs to her own daughter,” Smith said. “The defense lawyer did a good job avoiding a child abuse case. All of this was unnecessary. All of it was foolish.”
Smith added that the baby’s remains were wrapped in a plastic Walmart bag and that besides the man who provided the Burgesses with transportation, Jessica involved multiple other individuals in her crimes, including minors. “It was brutal,” he said.
