Brittany Watts, 33, was charged after police searched her toilet following her miscarriage in September.
A Black woman in Ohio has been charged with a felony for abuse of a corpse after she miscarried into her toilet, according to a criminal complaint, and reproductive rights experts are warning that it could set a dangerous precedent if she is convicted.
The attorney for Brittany Watts and a campaign organized on her behalf called the charges against her unjust, saying they feared the case could open the door to similar prosecutions and lawsuits over miscarriages nationwide.
Just hours after Watts, 33, was admitted to a hospital for a life-threatening hemorrhage after she miscarried in her bathroom Sep. 22, police removed her toilet from her home and searched it for fetal remains, according to a GoFundMe set up to fund her legal expenses and home repairs.
“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.
The technicality in what you’re saying is that she wasn’t refused the abortion… yet.
Part of their argument is that she was waiting around in the hospital for allegedly 8 hours while hospital administration discussed/debated going through with it.
So doctors did recommend it, but then the hospital hadn’t given the go ahead, so she said fuck this and left.
So yes, this does come down to abortion debate. She also seems to have been under family pressure of pregnancy ethics, which is it’s own abortion issue.