This is Jackie Burkle:
Jackie is a 22-year old woman from Huxley, Iowa.
She’s currently in jail, facing two first-degree murder charges.
Why?
She did the unthinkable. She gave birth to twin girls and had no intention of keeping them. Problem is, she didn’t think about letting anyone else have them either.
She killed her two newborn girls. Someone she worked with called the police to check up on Burkle because she was pregnant one day, and then came to work the next day and wasn’t pregnant anymore.
The bodies of the two newborns were found in the trunk of Burkle’s car. Authorities aren’t saying what Burkle did to end the newborn’s lives, but it was clear that she had no intention of letting them live.
This story breaks my heart. Two little girls who could have had a bright future with a loving family will never have that chance. I can’t even fathom how many families are out there waiting, hoping and praying for a baby (or two!) that would have taken these infants into their homes, no questions asked.
What makes this more upsetting to me is that Iowa is one of thirty-one states to adopt a Safe Haven Law for Newborns Act.
The Safe Haven Act is a law that allows parents – or another person who has the parent’s authorization – to leave an infant up to 14 days old at a hospital or health care facility without fear of prosecution for abandonment.
Jackie Burkle could have dropped her babies off at the local hospital. She could have taken them to a Dr’s office and left them. She could have made a different choice the day her daughters were born. She could have given those girls a chance at life. She could have given them a family, with parents and maybe even siblings to love them.
Instead this 22-year old faces two first-degree murder charges, and a family out there is still waiting for a child.
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