Outrage as Ohio woman Brittany Watts is charged after having miscarriage in her bathroom

TRUMBULL COUNTY, OHIO: A Black woman in Ohio has been charged with a felony for "abuse of a corpse" after she miscarried into her toilet, per a criminal complaint. Experts on reproductive rights are warning that if she is found guilty, this could create a risky precedent.

Brittany Watts' attorney, who believes the charges are unjust, expressed concern that the case might lead to other miscarriage-related prosecutions and lawsuits.

Campaign characterized charges against Brittany Watts as unfair

According to a GoFundMe established to pay Watts' legal fees and cover her house repairs, police took her toilet out of her house and destroyed it in search for fetal remains just hours after the 33-year-old was admitted to the hospital on September 22 for a potentially fatal hemorrhage after miscarrying in her bathroom.

"Ms Watts suffered a tragic and dangerous miscarriage that jeopardized her own life. Rather than focusing on healing physically and emotionally, she was arrested and charged with a felony and is fighting for her freedom and reputation," her attorney, Traci Timko, said in a statement.

Timko contended in court that Ohio does not have a statute requiring a miscarried woman to bury or cremate the remains. According to the Ohio Revised Code, women should "in no case" be charged with a crime if an unborn child dies in utero, NBC reported.

Although Watts' case is not the first to criminalize someone for the result of their pregnancy, Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, and the author of multiple books on the abortion controversy, notes that if she is found guilty, it might establish a precedent for similar cases and prosecutions.

“The abuse of corpse statute clearly wasn’t written with pregnancy-related conduct in mind,” Ziegler said. “It’s clearly a much older idea that isn’t usually applicable in this kind of context.”

Brittany Watts' case highlights challenges faced by women

Ziegler's concern was shared by Greer Donley, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh whose research focuses on how abortion restrictions affect other facets of reproductive health care.

She referred to the Supreme Court's Dobbs v Jackson ruling, which struck down federal abortion protections in June 2022 and ended Roe v Wade, as she said, “Stillbirth has been in the crosshairs of the abortion wars, so this isn’t the first time it has been criminalized, but it might be the first time that this has happened on a national scale and certainly in a post-Dobbs context.”

The difficulties faced by women carrying high-risk pregnancies following the Supreme Court's ruling are highlighted by Watts' case.

Up to 22 states have passed legislation restricting or outlawing abortion, allowing prosecutors to file charges against abortion providers, sometimes even for fetuses with potentially fatal defects.

The case further supports the body of data showing Black women face disproportionate criminalization during pregnancy. The Texas Supreme Court made a decision last month that went against Kate Cox's wishes to end her pregnancy after learning that her fetus had a fatal diagnosis.

Eventually, she decided to end her pregnancy and left the state. Donley stated in an opinion story for The New York Times that she was "not shocked" by the verdict in Cox's case.

In addition, Watts' case coincides with a movement to include abortion rights in state constitutions following the Supreme Court's decision. Voters in Ohio, the state where Watts was born, amended the state constitution last month to include the right to an abortion.

Charges against Brittany Watts

Brittany Watts, a woman who miscarried at home, is facing charges under Ohio law for treating a human corpse in a way that would "outrage reasonable family or community sensibilities."

The charge is a felony in the fifth degree, punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine. Watts was arrested on October 5 and released on bond the same day after pleading not guilty.

A preliminary hearing on November 2 found that her fetus died in utero and showed no signs of injury.

Judge Terry Ivanchak ruled that there is "probable cause to find the accused guilty" and sent the case to the Trumbull County Grand Jury to determine if there is enough evidence for a felony indictment.

Watts' case is unique as it stands out from other instances of pregnancy criminalization, as prosecutors conceded that there was nothing Watts could have done to continue her pregnancy.

Pregnancy Justice compiled cases of pregnancy criminalization across the country from January 1, 2006, until June 23, 2022. In the study, abuse of a corpse or tampering with remains was used as a criminal charge in only 2% of the 1,400 cases analyzed.

The post-Dobbs environment may explain why prosecutors are pursuing charges against Watts, as there is a social movement advocating for a fetus to be recognized as a rights-holding person.

Internet expresses outrage over charges against Brittany Watts

As news of Brittany Watts' experience surfaced on X, several people expressed their anger at the charges against her. People highlighted how miscarriage is a damaging experience, and criticised her being thrust into the spotlight after it.

One person wrote, "This is disgusting. This poor woman," and another made a sarcastic comment as they said, "Because having a miscarriage isn't enough of a traumatic experience."

A third person expressed a similar opinion as they added, "Miscarrying is such a traumatic experience on it's own and then to have to deal with something like this on top of it. Let the woman grieve in peace," while another person simply wrote, "Absurd."

Some women also shared their personal experiences as one said, "I'm 65. In my 20s, I began having a miscarriage! when I was in the hospital, they found out it was an ectopic pregnancy & perfomed an abortion to remove the NON-VIABLE fetus. If it had happened today, I'd probably be charged with murder. My heart breaks for this woman."

Another also shared, "The same thing happened to me after hours and hours of pain. It was horrible. My heart aches for this poor woman who must endure trauma after trauma."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.