An Ohio woman who spontaneously miscarried her baby is now facing a criminal charge accusing her of abusing her baby’s corpse. A grand jury in Ohio is now considering whether or not to indict her in what experts say is an extremely rare interpretation of Ohio state law.
On September 19, 2023, 34-year-old Brittany Watts, of Warren, Ohio, was 21 weeks and five days pregnant when she was admitted to St. Joseph Warren Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, with vaginal bleeding, per the Trumbull County Coroner’s Office.
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Doctors had determined that her water broke prematurely and that her cervix became dilated, all while Watts had a significantly elevated white blood cell count. Physicians said they were able to detect cardiac activity but “recommended [Watts] be induced and deliver the fetus despite its nonviable status,” because she was at significant risk of maternal death, sepsis or “complete placental abruption with catastrophic bleeding.”
After waiting eight hours for a hospital ethics panel to determine whether to induce her pregnancy without legal ramifications — being that Watts was on the cusp of Ohio’s viability timeline of 22 weeks — Watts eventually left the hospital and went home to “process the information she was told.” The following day, Watts returned to the hospital with the same symptoms and left a second time without treatment.
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On September 22, 2023, Watts tragically passed her fetus at home alone in her bathroom and went to the hospital for a third time, where she received a dilation and curettage, or a D and C, to remove the placenta. At this time, hospital officials alerted the Warren City Police Department about the miscarriage and “the need to locate the fetus.”
Police officials eventually discovered the fetus clogged in the Ohio woman’s bathroom toilet, accusing her of abusing the baby’s corpse while trying to flush the remains down the bowl after they claimed she initially told police that she disposed of what she believed to be the remains in a bucket in her backyard.
The entire toilet was removed from the home, taken to a morgue, and broken open to pull the fetus from inside. The autopsy report also noted that the fetus had died in utero, before delivery, due to complications of premature rupturing of the membranes.
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On October 5, 2023, the Ohio woman was arrested and criminally charged with abuse of corpse, which is a felony under a law adopted by the Ohio Legislature in 1996. As of November, Watts’ case has been prosecuted by the Warren City Prosecutor’s Office and has been seen before a Trumbull County grand jury.
On Wednesday (January 3), the grand jury was scheduled to give its report, but Guy Vogrin, a spokesperson for the Trumbull County prosecutor, claimed the case has now been continued until the next session in a couple of weeks. Since the grand jury proceedings are kept secret, it is unclear as to why the latest hearing was postponed.
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On October 7, a month after Watts was arrested and criminally charged, a judge granted a motion for preliminary injunction against the abortion bans. This now meant abortions through 22 weeks’ gestation could continue, in keeping the state law in place before the ban. Additionally, women would have the right to contraception, fertility treatment, and miscarriage care. The measure then went into effect in early December.
Speaking on the legislation and Watts’ situation, her lawyer, Traci Timko, told Judge Terry Ivanchak of the Warren Municipal Court last month, “[Watts is being] demonized for something that goes on every day.” However, Ivanchak, who has since retired, found probable cause and sent the charge to a grand jury for consideration.
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