An abortion clinic reportedly turned a teen away last year. Her friend recently went to the police with text messages she allegedly sent about burying the remains in the backyard.
The teenager and her mother are being investigated after police found fetal remains in the family’s backyard from what they allege was a self-managed abortion with pills. According to local news reports and court documents obtained by Jezebel, the teenager’s friend tipped off police and showed them text messages the pair had reportedly exchanged about her pregnancy in April and May 2024.
The County Coroner told Lancaster Online that the cause of death was extreme prematurity prior to viability. A coroner’s report released Tuesday estimated that the fetus was 20 weeks and 6 days gestation. No charges had yet been filed and the case remained under investigation. The search warrant application lists “abuse of a corpse”. The teenager was under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged abortion.
The “friend” told the Regional Police on March 6—almost a year later—that she was present when the teen learned she was pregnant from an at-home test. The friend said the teen went to an abortion clinic but was told she was too far along for that provider to perform an abortion. (Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania through 23 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy, but not every clinic goes to the legal limit.)
The friend claimed the teen and her mother ordered abortion pills online and shared text messages with police, allegedly showing the teen saying she took the pills in early May 2024 and had a miscarriage. The texts purportedly show the teen sending multiple photos and telling the friend that she and her mother planned to bury the fetus. According to court documents, the police got a search warrant to look for areas around the home that matched the background in the texted photos.
First, neither abortion nor self-managed abortion has to be explicitly banned for people to face investigations; police can try to charge them for things like concealing a birth or tampering with human remains. Second, the biggest risk to people’s privacy is other people, not their phones. An August 2022 report from If/When/How found that, in 61 cases where adults were investigated for pregnancy outcomes, 45 percent were reported to law enforcement by care professionals, including doctors, nurses, and social workers. Another 26 percent were reported by friends, parents, or intimate partners. (In a 2022 Nebraska case, a teenager’s friend also provided information to police.) Still, once police are involved, they can try to access digital communications and internet activity.
Helplines: People who need assistance self-managing a miscarriage or abortion can call the Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline at (833) 246-2632 for confidential medical support, or the Repro Legal Helpline at (844) 868-2812 for confidential legal information and advice.
SOURCE: Jezebel, by Susan Rinkunas, 18 March 2025.