Atlantic writer David Frum received swift backlash after he accused pro-life Republicans of lying when they said women would not go to jail for securing abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
"They swore up and down they wouldn't send girls and women to prison for having abortions. They lied," Frum wrote in a tweet that garnered over a million views Thursday night.
Frum was referring to a Nebraska woman who was recently sentenced to 90 days in prison and two years probation for "concealing or abandoning a dead body." Celeste Burgess of Norfolk, 18, pled guilty earlier this year to burning and burying her child, after working with her mother to abort the viable infant in the third trimester of pregnancy. Burgess's mother had purchased abortion pills online for her daughter to take, violating state law at the time that banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Frum went on to complain, "Will the policing and punishment of women be an important issue in 2024? It sure seemed important to the outcome in 2022 - and that was while the new surveillance regime was still mostly hypothetical. Now it's becoming real."
NE WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO BURNING, CONCEALING FETUS AFTER TAKING MEDICATIONS TO END PREGNANCY
Frum's tweets defending the woman who pled guilty to burning and burying the aborted infant provoked a strong backlash from conservatives on Twitter.
Mollie Hemingway, Senior Editor at The Federalist and Fox News contributor blasted, "David Frum out here full-throatedly endorsing and defending the DIY chemical killing of a viable third-trimester child, followed by the burning of her remains, and illegal concealment of those human remains. Which, to be fair, is pretty on brand."
"So you support someone being able to murder a viable baby 30 weeks into the pregnancy and then burn the body to cover the evidence? You should be clear about what you’re advocating for here," another conservative user demanded.
Grayson Quay, an editor for conservative news outlet The Daily Caller called Frum "morally bankrupt."
"The woman he's referring to murdered her baby at 29 weeks, joked about being able to fit into her jeans again, and then burned the baby's corpse in her backyard. She got 90 days in jail for it. The 'principled' right is morally bankrupt," he tweeted.
DEMOCRAT STATES BEGIN PROTECTING DOCTORS WHO SEND ABORTION PILLS TO STATES WHERE THEY'RE RESTRICTED
Some Twitter users alleged Frum was misleading his followers in how he characterized the charges, as the woman was only charged for illegally concealing and burying a dead body.
"Prosecutors did not charge Celeste Burgess under Nebraska’s abortion law. She pleaded guilty in May to removing or concealing human skeletal remains, a felony. Prosecutors agreed to drop two misdemeanor charges against her: concealing a death and false reporting," The New York Times reported.
Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, fact-checked the journalist.
"(1) She was 30 weeks pregnant, which would have been illegal in most states pre-Roe [and most of the world], and is 20 weeks past the FDA's approved usage timeline for abortion pills. (2) She wasn't charged under the abortion law. She was charged with concealing the remains," she tweeted.
Another conservative user argued Frum with trying to mislead his followers.
"The deliberate omission of the facts of this case is meant to fool you. This was a DIY abortion of a viable 3rd trimester fetus, followed by the illicit disposal of the corpse. The latter is what she was jailed over & was illegal before Dobbs. Happy to clear that up for you," he tweeted.
In May, Nebraska's Republican Governor signed a ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, prompting the ACLU to file a lawsuit against the ban.
