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.

  • zeppo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    143
    ·
    2 years ago

    police removed her toilet from her home and searched it

    Everything about this is insane and exactly what sensible people thought would happen.

    • crandlecan@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      2 years ago

      I heard she did something a few years back that really upset Baby Jesus and made him cry! I’m certain God knows what he’s doing!!

    • anon_8675309@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      These are the images the Democrats need to sear into the minds of all voters. This is pure 1984 dystopian bullshit.

    • Birdie@thelemmy.club
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      That’s what it took to get to the fetus and remove it. And they’re blaming her for not doing it. There she was with a partially retained placenta, in danger of bleeding out, and she had the nerve to leave her toilet intact in order to obtain timely life saving health care.

      And don’t forget, she’d been to the hospital multiple times and left because she wasn’t receiving care…all hospital caregivers and ‘legal teams’ were too busy trying to figure out if they could legally remove a dead fetus; they wouldn’t do what needed to be done. Just left her sitting there while they argued intent of the law versus letter of the law.

      “She put the fetus into the toilet.” No, she didn’t. The fetus was expelled into the toilet, along with bodily waste. She tried to get everything out, but she couldn’t.

      “She then went about her day.” No, she didn’t. She went to the hospital. She was bleeding (probably heavily) due to part of the placenta being left attached.

      That’s just two of the twisted statements the prosecutor has made in order to make this woman look like a heartless SOB.

      It’s gone too far, and short of removing Republicans from office and justices from the court, I don’t know what we can do. They are prosecuting this woman to punish her for miscarrying in an inconvenient place.

      It’s worth mentioning that just 11 days earlier, had her miscarriage happened at the hospital, it would have been disposed of as medical waste…incinerated. 11 freaking days, and the state is criminalizing her.