Abortion: Facebook relayed information to the police as part of an investigation into a minor who had an abortion

What if the fears of feminists in the United States had just materialized?

Facebook is involved in an investigation into an underage teenager he used illegal abortion in the United States. The social network is in turmoil after providing information to the Nebraska police, which had issued a search warrant to gain access to messages exchanged between a mother and her underage daughter.

They are specifically accused of using to an abortion after the authorized period in this state. Since then, the hashtag #Delete Facebook it is brandished by feminists who are concerned that Facebook will be able to divulge information if they were to be attacked in the event of recourse to abortion.

“All women should get rid of Facebook immediately. “

Young activist Olivia Julianna filed an appeal to all feminists to protest against facebook and its role in this case.

Why did the police turn to Facebook?

The case begins in the spring, well before Roe vs. Wade from the Supreme Court. According to the Lincoln Journal Star, an investigation was opened in late April, based on evidence that Celeste Burgess, 17, of Norfolk, Nebraska, had a miscarriage and that she and her mother, Jessica Burgess, reportedly buried the child. fetus, after burning it.

Questioned by the police, they said they buried the body, with the help of a third person, who was also being persecuted. A few months later, they were charged with moving, concealing or abandoning a human corpse and two felonies, concealing the death of a person, and false reporting, according to documents obtained by Motherboard.

As the investigation continued, the police asked Facebook for access to the messages exchanged between the mother and daughter. This is how she uncovered a conversation that implied that she was going to have Celeste Burgess had a premature miscarriage.

According to the police report, the teenager explains in a message “How he can’t wait to get ‘that thing’ out of his body and reaffirms to J. Burgess that they’re going to burn the evidence afterwards. “

In this western US state, abortion is allowed for up to 20 weeks. The messages prove it Celeste Burgess reportedly received an abortion pill from her mother when she was already 28 weeks pregnant. She would thus have given birth to a stillbirth. The autopsy report, which was carried out at the end of April, does not allow us to accurately determine the cause of death, but the state of the lungs allows us to state that they never contained air.

In the month of July, two additional counts were added for performing or attempting an abortion on a pregnancy of more than 20 weeks and performing an abortion as an unauthorized person.

Facebook tries to correct the shot

Faced with the protests, Meta wanted to minimize his role in the case. Facebook’s parent company explained that the search warrants did not mention the use of abortion and only concerned investigations into the cremation and burial of the body of a stillborn baby. The warrants were initially accompanied by nondisclosure orders, which prevented the company from providing such information. “These orders were subsequently revoked. “

As mentioned Publication, “Facebook can access the vast majority of private conversations taking place on its platform. “

Now that access to abortion is clearly threatened or even challenged in several states, many women fear that the case may set a precedent and that simple Facebook searches on abortion or discussions on the subject put them at risk and expose them to legal action in states that have criminalized abortion.

Both women are now awaiting trial. Now 18, Celeste Burgess will be judged major.