Facebook has defended itself after the release of court documents showing it provided chat messages to police that are being used to sue a mother and daughter for an abortion.
The messages are part of a case in Nebraska alleging the couple performed an abortion at 28 weeks without a license and then attempted to conceal a dead human body.
The alleged abortion took place before the United States Supreme Court overruled Roe v Wadewhich gave American women the constitutional right to terminate their pregnancies.
However, it has sparked controversy amid concerns about how reproductive rights will be policed in the future, including seeking information from social media accounts.
Since this decision on Roe vs. Wade the ability of approximately 58 million girls and women across the United States to access safe and legal abortion has been called into question.
Read more: Six graphs that reveal how access to abortion has already changed in the United States
FacebookThe parent company of released a statement saying that “most reporting on Meta‘s role in a criminal case against a mother and daughter in Nebraska is simply not true.”
What do the court documents say – and what did Meta do?
Madison County, Nebraska prosecutors say Jessica Burgess, 41, obtained abortion pills then gave them to her daughter, Celeste, then 17, and helped her burn and bury the fetus with it. the help of a 20-year-old man, Tanner Barnhill, who also faces misdemeanor charges.
Celeste Burgess was 28 weeks pregnant when she took the drug, which is considered the start of her third trimester. Nebraska limits abortion to 20 weeks in most circumstances where the mother’s health is not at risk.
The drug Jessica Burgess got is designed to provide medical termination of pregnancy in the first trimester, up to week 12.
Police say they learned of the case from a close friend of Celeste who saw her take the first pill.
Officers have requested a search warrant from Meta for all private data about the Burgesses, and direct messages included in court documents appear to show mother and daughter discussing taking the drug.
They said that after exhuming the fetus, the post-mortem examination was consistent with a stillbirth, but because it had been placed in a plastic bag, they couldn’t rule out the possibility that it had been asphyxiated – which was part of the investigation.
The women, who plead not guilty, will face a jury trial in October.
Read more:
Roe v Wade: how did we get here?
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In his full statement, Meta said, “We received valid legal warrants from local law enforcement on June 7, prior to the Supreme Court’s decision.[.] The warrants did not mention abortion at all.”
The statement added: “Court documents indicate that police were at the time investigating the alleged unlawful cremation and burial of a stillborn child.
“The warrants came with non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing information about them. The orders have now been lifted.”
